Hyperthermia impairs the executive function using the Attention Network Test

Figures & data

Figure 1. Schematic of attention network test in the present study. In each trial a fixation cross appears in the centre of the screen all the time. Depending on the cue condition, a cue condition (no cue, centre, or spatial cue) appears for 200 ms. After a variable duration (300–11 800 ms), the target (congruent or incongruent flankers) are presented until the participant makes a response with a button press, but for no longer than 2000 ms. Once the subjects makes a response, the target disappears immediately and after a variable duration (3000–15 000 ms) the next trial start.

Figure 2. Three ANT effects of RTs, altering, orienting and executive control, in each condition. Heat stress resulted in larger executive control effect, while both the alerting and orienting effects did not show significant changes.

Table 1.  RT (ms) and accuracy (%) for each condition (Mean and SD).

		No cue		Centre cue		Spatial cue
		Mean	SD	Mean	SD	Mean	SD
Control condition
Congruent	RT	644	89	593	76	554	79
	Accuracy	99.7	0.9	99.7	1.1	99.9	0.6
Incongruent	RT	684	82	666	81	611	90
	Accuracy	98.8	2.1	97.0	2.8	99.3	1.3
Heat condition
Congruent	RT	624	75	591	65	543	69
	Accuracy	99.3	1.2	99.6	1.0	99.8	0.7
Incongruent	RT	697	89	676	80	611	92
	Accuracy	99.2	1.0	99.0	1.1	99.5	1.0