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Monitoring Task (monitoring + task)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Life Sciences	75%

Selected Abstracts

Dissociating the role of the caudate nucleus and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in the monitoring of events within human working memory

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE, Issue 5 2010
Jean-Sebastien Provost
Abstract There is evidence that the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is involved in the monitoring of information held in memory whether it is self-ordered or externally triggered. However, the functional contribution of the caudate nucleus in the monitoring of events has not yet been studied. We have previously proposed that the striatum is involved when a novel self-initiated action needs to be generated. The present study aimed to test the hypothesis that the caudate nucleus is significantly more required when the monitoring is self-ordered as opposed to externally triggered. Self-ordered monitoring refers to keeping track of which items have been selected so far in order to perform the current selection. Externally triggered monitoring refers to keeping track of which items have been selected by an outside source. Thirteen healthy young adults were scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging while performing a monitoring task with three conditions: self-ordered, externally triggered and recognition. As predicted, a significant increase of activity was found in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex bilaterally when the self-ordered and externally triggered conditions were compared with the recognition condition. Most importantly, significantly increased activity was found in the right caudate nucleus when comparing the self-ordered with the recognition condition or with the externally triggered condition, but not when comparing the externally triggered with the recognition condition. We suggest that the caudate nucleus is involved in the planning of a self-initiated novel action, especially when no clear indication is given for the response choice, and that this may be the case across different domains of cognition. [source]

What does doodling do?

APPLIED COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 1 2010
Jackie Andrade
Doodling is a way of passing the time when bored by a lecture or telephone call. Does it improve or hinder attention to the primary task? To answer this question, 40 participants monitored a monotonous mock telephone message for the names of people coming to a party. Half of the group was randomly assigned to a ,doodling' condition where they shaded printed shapes while listening to the telephone call. The doodling group performed better on the monitoring task and recalled 29% more information on a surprise memory test. Unlike many dual task situations, doodling while working can be beneficial. Future research could test whether doodling aids cognitive performance by reducing daydreaming. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Characteristics of Australia's rangelands and key design issues for monitoring biodiversity

AUSTRAL ECOLOGY, Issue 1 2004
ANITA K. SMYTH
Abstract We explored the key issues that are most likely to influence any set of guiding principles for developing biodiversity monitoring programmes in Australia's rangelands. We defined the Australian rangelands and came up with an overview of their climate extremes, land-use pressures and biodiversity loss, and then focussed on issues underpinning the design phase of any monitoring programme. Using Noss's 1990 framework of compositional, structural and functional attributes of biodiversity and its new revisions by others, we showed how the elusive, abstract concept of biodiversity can be used to identify many measurable attributes that can form a minimum and necessary set of indicators for any biodiversity monitoring task. We then described the steps in the monitoring process, with a particular focus on the reasons for monitoring biodiversity as they strongly influence the selection of indicators. We concluded by compiling a table of key issues as background information for developing guiding principles (Table 4). The list is by no means an exhaustive list for the design phase but it does indicate that considerable attention needs to be given to this phase when developing monitoring programmes. We have intentionally not addressed the equally important issues associated with the planning and delivery phases of developing a monitoring programme, as Wallace et al. and Watson and Novelly cover these in their papers in the present issue of Austral Ecology. [source]

Census and monitoring based on individually identifiable vocalizations: the role of neural networks

ANIMAL CONSERVATION, Issue 2 2002
Andrew M. R. Terry
Vocal individuality is widely suggested as a method for identifying individuals within a population. But few studies have explored its performance in real or simulated conservation situations. Here we simulated the use of vocal individuality to monitor the calling corncrake (Crex crex), a secretive and endangered land rail. Our data set contained 600 calls from 30 individuals and was used to simulate a population of corncrakes being counted and monitored. We tested three different neural network models for their ability to discriminate between and to identify individuals. Neural networks are non-linear classification tools widely applied to both biological and non-biological identification tasks. Backpropagation and probabilistic neural networks were used to simulate the reidentification of members of a known population (monitoring) and a Kohonen network was used to simulate the counting of a population of unknown size (census). We found that both backpropagation and probabilistic networks identified all individuals correctly all the time, irrespective of sample size. Kohonen networks were more variable in performance but estimated population size to within one individual of the actual size. Our results indicate that neural networks can be used effectively together with recordings of vocalizations in census and monitoring tasks. [source]