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The effect of body posture on cognitive performance: a question of sleep quality

Nearly all functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies are conducted in the supine body posture, which has been discussed as a potential confounder of such examinations. The literature suggests that cognitive functions, such as problem solving or perception, differ between supine and uprigh...

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Autores principales: Muehlhan, Markus, Marxen, Michael, Landsiedel, Julia, Malberg, Hagen, Zaunseder, Sebastian
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2014
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3973903/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24723874
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00171
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author Muehlhan, Markus
Marxen, Michael
Landsiedel, Julia
Malberg, Hagen
Zaunseder, Sebastian
author_facet Muehlhan, Markus
Marxen, Michael
Landsiedel, Julia
Malberg, Hagen
Zaunseder, Sebastian
author_sort Muehlhan, Markus
collection PubMed
description Nearly all functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies are conducted in the supine body posture, which has been discussed as a potential confounder of such examinations. The literature suggests that cognitive functions, such as problem solving or perception, differ between supine and upright postures. However, the effect of posture on many cognitive functions is still unknown. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of body posture (supine vs. sitting) on one of the most frequently used paradigms in the cognitive sciences: the N-back working memory paradigm. Twenty-two subjects were investigated in a randomized within-subject design. Subjects performed the N-back task on two consecutive days in either the supine or the upright posture. Subjective sleep quality and chronic stress were recorded as covariates. Furthermore, changes in mood dimensions and heart rate variability (HRV) were assessed during the experiment. Results indicate that the quality of sleep strongly affects reaction times when subjects performed a working memory task in a supine posture. These effects, however, could not be observed in the sitting position. The findings can be explained by HRV parameters that indicated differences in autonomic regulation in the upright vs. the supine posture. The finding is of particular relevance for fMRI group comparisons when group differences in sleep quality cannot be ruled out.
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spelling pubmed-39739032014-04-10 The effect of body posture on cognitive performance: a question of sleep quality Muehlhan, Markus Marxen, Michael Landsiedel, Julia Malberg, Hagen Zaunseder, Sebastian Front Hum Neurosci Neuroscience Nearly all functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies are conducted in the supine body posture, which has been discussed as a potential confounder of such examinations. The literature suggests that cognitive functions, such as problem solving or perception, differ between supine and upright postures. However, the effect of posture on many cognitive functions is still unknown. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of body posture (supine vs. sitting) on one of the most frequently used paradigms in the cognitive sciences: the N-back working memory paradigm. Twenty-two subjects were investigated in a randomized within-subject design. Subjects performed the N-back task on two consecutive days in either the supine or the upright posture. Subjective sleep quality and chronic stress were recorded as covariates. Furthermore, changes in mood dimensions and heart rate variability (HRV) were assessed during the experiment. Results indicate that the quality of sleep strongly affects reaction times when subjects performed a working memory task in a supine posture. These effects, however, could not be observed in the sitting position. The findings can be explained by HRV parameters that indicated differences in autonomic regulation in the upright vs. the supine posture. The finding is of particular relevance for fMRI group comparisons when group differences in sleep quality cannot be ruled out. Frontiers Media S.A. 2014-03-27 /pmc/articles/PMC3973903/ /pubmed/24723874 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00171 Text en Copyright © 2014 Muehlhan, Marxen, Landsiedel, Malberg and Zaunseder. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Neuroscience
Muehlhan, Markus
Marxen, Michael
Landsiedel, Julia
Malberg, Hagen
Zaunseder, Sebastian
The effect of body posture on cognitive performance: a question of sleep quality
title The effect of body posture on cognitive performance: a question of sleep quality
title_full The effect of body posture on cognitive performance: a question of sleep quality
title_fullStr The effect of body posture on cognitive performance: a question of sleep quality
title_full_unstemmed The effect of body posture on cognitive performance: a question of sleep quality
title_short The effect of body posture on cognitive performance: a question of sleep quality
title_sort effect of body posture on cognitive performance: a question of sleep quality
topic Neuroscience
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3973903/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24723874
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00171
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