Passive heat exposure alters perception and executive function

Malcolm, RA ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3494-3835, Cooper, S ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5219-5020, Folland, JP, Tyler, CJ and Sunderland, C ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7484-1345, 2018. Passive heat exposure alters perception and executive function. Frontiers in Physiology, 9: 585. ISSN 1664-042X

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Abstract

Findings regarding the influence of passive heat exposure on cognitive function remain equivocal due to a number of methodological issues including variation in the domains of cognition examined. In a randomized crossover design, forty-one male participants completed a battery of cognitive function tests [Visual Search, Stroop, Corsi Blocks and Rapid Visual Information Processing (RVIP) tests] prior to and following 1 h of passive rest in either hot (39.6 ± 0.4°C, 50.8 ± 2.3% Rh) or moderate (21.2 ± 1.8°C, 41.9 ± 11.4% Rh) conditions. Subjective feelings of heat exposure, arousal and feeling were assessed alongside physiological measures including core temperature, skin temperature and heart rate, at baseline and throughout the protocol. Response times were slower in the hot trial on the simple (main effect of trial, P < 0.001) and complex (main effect of trial, P < 0.001) levels of the Stroop test (Hot: 872 ± 198 ms; Moderate: 834 ± 177 ms) and the simple level of the visual search test (Hot: 354 ± 54 ms; Moderate: 331 ± 47 ms) (main effect of trial, P < 0.001). Participants demonstrated superior accuracy on the simple level of the Visual Search test in the hot trial (Hot: 98.5 ± 3.1%; Moderate: 97.4 ± 3.6%) (main effect of trial, P = 0.035). Participants also demonstrated an improvement in accuracy on the complex level of the visual search test following 1 h passive heat exposure (Pre: 96.8 ± 5.9%; Post: 98.1 ± 3.1%), whilst a decrement was seen across the trial in the moderate condition (Pre: 97.7 ± 3.5; Post: 97.0 ± 5.1%) (time*trial interaction, P = 0.029). No differences in performance were observed on the RVIP or Corsi Blocks tests (all P > 0.05). Subjective feelings of thermal sensation and felt arousal were higher, feeling was lower in the hot trial, whilst skin temperature, core temperature and heart rate were higher (main effects of trial, all P < 0.001). The findings of the present study suggest that response times for perception and executive function tasks are worse in the heat. An improvement in accuracy on perceptual tasks may suggest a compensatory speed-accuracy trade-off effect occurring within this domain, further highlighting the task dependant nature of heat exposure on cognition.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Frontiers in Physiology
Creators:	Malcolm, R.A., Cooper, S., Folland, J.P., Tyler, C.J. and Sunderland, C.
Publisher:	Frontiers Research Foundation
Date:	2018
Volume:	9
ISSN:	1664-042X
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.3389/fphys.2018.00585 DOI
Rights:	Copyright © 2018 Malcolm, Cooper, Folland, Tyler and Sunderland. 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) and the copyright owner 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.
Divisions:	Schools > School of Science and Technology
Record created by:	Linda Sullivan
Date Added:	30 May 2018 11:47
Last Modified:	05 Apr 2019 13:31
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/33740

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