DURIP: Real-time FNIRS & EEG for tracking lapses in attention control
Abstract
Program Officer: Natalie Steinhauser, 341Our collaborative research team recently won a MURI grant from ONR to understand and buildoverall cognitive capability through attention control. Our team includes researchers at Georgia Tech, MIT, Purdue, Michigan State University, and the University of Chicago. As part of this work, we are investigating the neural and physiological mechanisms underlying fluctuations in the ability to control attention. As a trait-level variable, individual differences in the ability to control attention predict important real-world outcomes, from military training performance and academic achievement to emotion regulation and the ability to successfully multitask. As a state-level variable, challenge factors that characterize the military occupational environment (such as sleep deprivation, stress, physical exertion, and cognitive load) are known to negatively impact the ability to control one#s attention. To this end, we are requesting hardware and softwarethat will allow us to detect the waxing and waning of attention over time with the ultimate goal of preventing attentional lapses before they occur. Specifically, we are requesting combined functional near-infrared spectroscopy (FNIRS) and electroencephalogram (EEG) recording systems that can operate in real-time. A key goal of the project is to detect lapses before they occur so that we can prevent cognitive failures. This new technology would present a leap forward in our ability to successfully meet this goal because it would allow us to measure neuro-electrical and hemodynamic signals concurrently which means that we can capture a wider range of attention lapse phenomena in a single session. Furthermore, the real-time processing components requested in this proposal would allow us to prevent lapses more effectively by providing rapid feedback based on neural states than can be processed and detected within 2 milliseconds of being recorded. This is two orders of magnitude faster than our current technology and is likely to be much more effective at recovering cognitive performance. There is currently a great deal of scientific interest in attention control#the domain-general ability to maintain focus on goal-relevant information and ignore distractions and interference caused by task-irrelevant external events and internal thoughts. Research has revealed that neural and physiological measures can detect attentional fluctuations brought about by these state-level changes in real-time. Specifically, our team has discovered that these fluctuations can be detected using a combination of EEG, pupillometry, and functional neuroimaging. The proposed research will improve our understanding of attention control with the goal of detecting and preventing attentional lapses before they occur.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Feb 24, 2025
- Source ID
- N000142512138
Entities
People
- Edward K Vogel
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy
- University of Chicago