Modeling cyclic variations in sustained human performance as measured by reaction time and the flash visual evoked potential-P2

Recent research suggests that sustained attention is punctuated by periodic lapses that produce cyclic variations in sustained human performance. Research conducted by our laboratory (Arruda, Zhang, Amoss, Coburn, & Aue, 2009) and by the laboratories of others (Aue, Arruda, Kass, & Stanny, 2009; Smith, Valentino, & Arruda, 2003) suggests that sustained human performance cycles approximately every 1.5 and 5.2 min. Further, it has been suggested that a norepinephrine based arousal system may be responsible for these variations. Unfortunately, both cholinergic and noradrenergic pathways are known to mediate attention and it is unclear from previous research whether one or both of the identified cycles is related to cholinergic functioning. Consequently, the purpose of the present investigation was to assess the validity of the 1.5 and the 5.2 min cycles using both reaction time and a cortical marker of cholinergic activity-the flash visual evoked potential P2 (FVEP-P2). Twenty-seven participants performed a 15-min continuous performance task. A spectral analysis procedure was used to detect the prevalence of the 1.5 and 5.2 min cycles in both performance and cortical activity. While the results of these analyses support the validity of the 1.5 and 5.2 min cycles in sustained human performance, only the 5.2 min cycle was detected in cortical activity (i.e., the FVEP-P2 amplitudes) using model fitting. Consequently, the results of the present investigation support the validity of the 1.5 and 5.2 min cycles and extend the findings of previous research by implicating acetylcholine in the 5.2 min cycle.