EEG activities with open eyes in a quiet state (OA), during pseudo-Raven's test (PRA), in a hypnagogic state (HYP) and REM sleep (REM) are marked by similar, nearly flat curves. Further we observed states with eyes closed (OC), with hyperventilation (HV), with calculation (CAL) and in NONREM 1 sleep (NR 1). During OA, the EEG spectrum contains some delta and but rudimental alpha activity while during PRA and in HY there is an increase in delta-theta and a significant decrease in alpha activities. Hence, not even Fast Fourier Transformation (FFT) can differentiate between the states with fkat curves. This made us introduce another EEG curve analysis for coherence function (CF). We investigated 24 healthy volunteers aged 22 -- 55 years, 19 men and 5 women, in the above mentioned eight states with simultaneous EEG recording.
Vigilance was controlled by means of acoustic stimulation, reactivity was expressed in reaction time (ReT), i.e. latency of response in milliseconds (ms). Imitation Raven's test (pseudo-Raven' = PRA) was used for psychic testing. Recorded in the afternoon hours after partial sleep deprivation, the EEG curve was described optically using FFT and CF as well. FFT results have already been mentioned above. CF showed lower values during OA with up to 400 ms of ReT, a diffuse increase during HYP with ReT of 800 - 1200 ms, and a multifocal rise of delta activity in the EEG curve during PRA.
Consequently, EEG analysis can help differentiate between the above eight states, otherwise barely distinguishable with the naked eye especially in cases with flat EEG curves. Using similar analyses, it is possible to discriminate all stages of NONREM and REM sleep without polysomnography.
Transportation of people and goods represents a still more significant
component of the human culture. Its influence is extremely high today and will increase greatly in the future.
Almost all the contemporary transportation systems are based on the necessity of interaction between the transportation tool (vehicle, plane, ship), the transport control system and the human subject. Though a large effort is put into the development of automatic transport systems, none of the present attempts is fully automatic, in all of them the human subject plays a non-neglectable role with considerably high impact on the reliability and safety of the transportation function. Among such functions the driving and control activity dominates.
The drivers, pilots, captains and transportation systems dispatchers and controllers are usually exposed to considerably long and exhausting Services, which could last up to 8 and even more hours.
It is generally known that the human subject is not able to retain in the state of vigilance without brakes and relaxation. Usually, its ability to concentrate his/her attention to some activity (like driving of systém control) decreases considerably soon, mainly after 45 or 60 niinutes only.
The decrease of human subject attention in the course of his/her activity is not monotone of course, it can involve several periods of temporary increases and decreases. However, without exception, if the exposition is long enough, the subject attention finally falls under the limit of acceptability for safe and reliable activity of the particular type. The subject activity becomes dangerous for him/her, his/her environment and for the driven vehicle, plane, ship or the controlled transportation system too. Finally, the subject falls in the stage of the so-called micro-sleep, in which he/she is not able to produce the particular driving or control activity at all.
A considerably large effort was given to the analysis of negative impacts of this factor. Unfortunately, the used methodology for such analyses differs up to now in many countries, so that the results are not quite comparable. However, one can estimate that between 15 and 40% of all the accidents on the roads are caused by the non-satisfactory level of the human subject attention. If we take into account that the average economic loss of one mortal road accident is estimated to more than 1 million Euro and if the density of such accidents is taken into account as well, we come to a tremendous figure, which has to be enlarged more by the estimation of losses of non-mortal accidents.
The saccadic eye movement related potentials (SEMRPs) enable to study brain mechanisms of the sensorimotor integration. SEMRPs provide insight into various cognitive mechanisms related to planning, programming, generation and execution of the saccadic eye movements. SEMRPs can be used to investigate pathophysiological mechanisms of several disorders of the central nervous system. Here we shortly summarize basic findings concerning the significance of SEMRP components, their relationship to the functional brain asymmetry and visual attention level as well as changes related to certain neuropsychological disorders., F. Jagla, M. Jergelová, I. Riečanský., and Obsahuje bibliografii a bibliografické odkazy
EEG activities with open eyes in a quiet state (OA), during the pseudo-Raven's test (PRA), in hypnagogic state (HYP) and in the course of REM sleep (REM) are characteristic by nearly flat curves. We observed the states with eyes closed (OC), with hyperventilation (HV), during mental activity of calculation (CAL) and in NONREM 1 sleep (NR 1). 24 tested persons (probands) were investigated. We have found 8 typical states of EEG signals, which all have relation to attention and mental activity. Consequently, the EEG analysis can help in the differentiation between the above eight states. Using similar analyses, it is possible to discriminate all stages of NONREM and REM sleep without polysomnography.
Cílem přehledové studie je popsat vztah dvou proměnných – atopického ekzému a pozornosti. Nejprve je důležité vymezit dva související pojmy, které je důležité nezaměňovat, a to ADHD a ADD. Obě tyto poruchy pozornosti jsou dědičné neurovývojové poruchy. ADD se vyznačuje ztrátou soustředění, roztržitostí a emoční přecitlivělostí. ADHD je porucha pozornosti s hyperaktivitou. Vyznačuje se nepozornosti, hyperaktivitou a impulzivitou. Na základě výsledků dostupných studií, které se tímto vztahem zaobírají, je čtenáři představena daná tématika a shrnuty dosavadní poznatky. Pro přehledovou studii bylo pracováno se zdroji z dostupných vědeckých databází: PubMed, PsycInfo, Scopus a Web of Science. Pro vyhledávání byla zadána klíčová slova: atopic eczema, ADHD, ADD, attention, relationship. Dalším zvoleným kritériem pro vyhledávání bylo sledované období, které jsme stanovili bez určení, důvodem pro toto rozhodnutí bylo, že se jedná o specifickou problematiku. Studie byly vybrány na základě relevantnosti ke stanovenému cíli. Celkem se jednalo o 10 analyzovaných studií. Výsledky analyzovaných studií ukazují, že u osob s diagnostikovaným atopickým ekzémem existuje riziko poruchy pozornosti. Zároveň však nebyl prokázán přímý kauzální vztah mezi těmito proměnnými, který by v případě prokázání mohl vést ke stanovení preventivních, ale i léčebných plánů., PROBLEM: Atopic eczema is linked with several other psychosomatic diseases and disorders like sleeping disorders or low quality, chronic itching, etc. First, it is important to define two related terms that are important not to confuse, namely ADHD and ADD. Both of these attention disorders are inherited neurodevelopmental disorders. ADD is characterized by loss of concentration, distraction, and emotional hypersensitivity. ADHD is an attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. It is characterized by inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. The survey study aims at describing the relation of two variables – atopic eczema and attention. Based on the results of the available studies dealing with the said relation, the topic will be presented to the reader and the existing pieces of knowledge will be summarized. METHODS: The study worked with sources from available scientific databases: PubMed, PsycInfo, Scopus and Web of Science. The following key words were entered for search: atopic eczema, ADHD, ADD, attention, relation. Another criterion selected for search was the period of observation, which we set without determination; that decision was based on the fact that the topic in question is specific. The studies were selected based on their relevance for the goal set. 10 studies were analyzed in total. RESULTS: The analysis results show that studies dealing with the issue of the effect of atopic eczema can be divided into two groups. The first group consists of studies which state, based on research, that persons with diagnosed atopic eczema are endangered by attention disorders. While comparing them with healthy population, i.e., with persons without atopic eczema, it was found that persons with atopic eczema have higher proportional chance of attention disorders, and other health problems linked with the said disease, like low quality of sleep, anxieties, depressions or behaviour disorders were registered as well. The studies under analysis also mention a risk period that may be essential for the development of attention disorder. The other group consists of studies which did not demonstrate a direct causal relation between attention eczema and attention disorders, which, if demonstrated, could lead to setting of preventive and therapeutic plans. The results of some of these studies show the coexistence of atopic eczema and ADHD, but the authors state that both disorders may not have causal relation and that they may be influenced by other factors; they recommend other studies which could clarify the prevalence of ADHD in persons with atopic eczema., and DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: In conclusion, it can be stated that there is a higher risk of attention disorder, ADHD, in individuals with atopic eczema. However, as studies show, a causal relation between the two variables in question has not been found yet. The results have also shown that this issue is still little explored, in spite of the fact that a number of studies had a large research set. Therefore, further extensive interdisciplinary studies are needed, in order to prove or disprove their mutual causal relation. In case of proving the causal relation, it is further recommended to proceed to determine preventive and therapeutic strategies for attention disorders caused by atopic eczema, in order to positively influence the resulting quality of life of the individuals with the said disorder type.