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Effect of Complexity on Frontal Event Related Desynchronisation in Mental Rotation Task

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Abstract

A complexity (orientation and shape of stimuli) in the mental rotation (MR) task often affects reaction time (RT) and response accuracy, but the nature of such reflections in neuroscientific research is commonly undocumented. A number of studies have explored the effect of complexity and subsequently noted down the differences in performance. However, a few studies explored complexity (in the term of angular disparity) and cognitive strategies with respect to correct responses only. In contrast, the present study investigated frontal alpha desynchronization with reference to the complexity and proportions of correct and incorrect responses. Behavioral and neurophysiological responses were investigated to understand the switching between strategies (Analytic vs. Holistic). Results showed longer response time with respect to increased complexity. Frontal alpha desynchronization increased for difficult trials and incorrect responses, suggesting a higher utilization of cognitive resources at the frontal region during the MR task. Higher left frontal desynchronization reflected a trading off between strategies for difficult trials. Taken together, these findings suggest that the effect of stimuli complexity is more nuanced than implied by a simple hemispheric dichotomy for frontal cortex and discuss possible future directions to better understand the multitudinous brain mechanisms involved in MR.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by Director, INMAS, DRDO, Delhi. The EEG data acquired by Nidhi Gupta and Shweta Saraswat. Scales used for this study were designed through the support of Delhi University.

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  1. Biomedical Engineering Department, Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Science (INMAS), Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), Delhi, 110054, India

    Greeshma Sharma, Ronnie Daniel, Sushil Chandra & Ram Singh

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  1. Greeshma Sharma
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  2. Ronnie Daniel
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Correspondence to Greeshma Sharma.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the INMAS ethical committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Sharma, G., Daniel, R., Chandra, S. et al. Effect of Complexity on Frontal Event Related Desynchronisation in Mental Rotation Task. Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback 44, 235–245 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10484-019-09436-0

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