TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2015//
TI  - Reduced motor preparation during dual-task performance: evidence from startle
JO  - Experimental brain research
A1  - Maslovat, Dana
A1  - Drummond, Neil M.
A1  - Carter, Michael J.
A1  - Carlsen, Anthony N.
SP  - 2673
EP  - 2683
VL  - 233
IS  - 9
N2  - Previous studies have used a secondary probe reaction time (RT) task to assess attentional demands of a primary task. The current study used a startling acoustic stimulus (SAS) in a probe RT paradigm to test the hypothesis that attentional resources would be directly related to limitations in response preparation. Participants performed an easy or difficult version of a continuous primary task that was either primarily motor in nature (pursuit tracking) or cognitive (counting backward). Concurrently, participants responded to an auditory cue as fast as possible by performing a wrist extension secondary movement. On selected trials, the auditory cue was replaced with a SAS (120 dB), which is thought to involuntarily trigger a prepared response and thus bypass any response initiation bottleneck that may be present when trying to perform two movements. Although startle trials were performed at a shorter latency, both non-startle and startle probe trials resulted in a delayed RT, as compared to single-task trials, consistent with reduced preparation of the secondary task. In addition, analysis of SAS trial RT when a startle indicator was present versus absent provided evidence that the secondary task was at a lowered state of preparation when engaged in the cognitive primary task as compared to a motor primary task, suggesting a facilitative effect on preparatory activation when both the primary and secondary tasks are motoric in nature.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0014-4819
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00221-015-4340-7
ID  - ref1
ER  -