Biomedical subjects

Orit Rubin

Publications and source records attributed to Orit Rubin.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Exogenous influences on task set activation in task switching.

To explore the effect of exogenous processes on cognitive control, we used a cueing task-switching paradigm with two spatial judgement tasks and added an irrelevant colour attribute to the task-relevant spatial attribute of the target. The colour was not related to any specific Stimulus-Response relation in the tasks. A correlation was created between stimulus colour and task identity. This correlation was strong but imperfect in Experiment 1 and perfect in Experiment 2. As a result of the colour-task correlation, stimuli contained redundant information about task identity. By changing the correlation pattern every few blocks we caused this information to be sometimes invalid. In both experiments, performance was worse when the information carried by the target was invalid than when it was valid. However, this effect was exclusive to conditions with short task preparation time. By comparing performance with a control group, which had no colour-task correlation (in Experiment 2) we established that the colour manipulation did not cause a qualitative change in preparation strategy, and that the exogenous effect was stronger in switch trials than in repetition trials. We conclude that exogenous processes that are related to task set affect performance primarily if they are presented before endogenous processes of task set preparation have been launched.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

The Israel Center for Medical Simulation: a paradigm for cultural change in medical education.

Simulation-based medical education (SBME) is a rapidly growing field, as is illustrated by the increased development of simulation centers worldwide. SBME is becoming a powerful force in addressing the need to increase patient safety through quality-care training. Recognizing the benefits of SBME, increasing numbers of bodies involved in medical and health care education and training are establishing simulation centers worldwide. The general model of most facilities focuses on a single simulation modality or a specific branch of medicine or health care, limiting their overall impact on patient safety and quality of care across the health care systems. MSR, the Israel Center for Medical Simulation, is a comprehensive, national, multimodality, multidisciplinary medical simulation center dedicated to enhancing hands-on medical education, performance assessment, patient safety, and quality of care by improving clinical and communication skills. The center uses an "error-driven" educational approach, which recognizes that errors provide an opportunity to create a unique beneficial learning experience. The authors present the Israeli experience as an alternative model, and describe the impact of the MSR model on the Israeli medical community during four years of activity. They also describe the opportunities this model has opened towards changing the culture of medical education and patient safety within Israel Although this model may require modification when implemented in other medical systems, it highlights important lessons regarding the power of SBME in triggering and bringing about cultural changes in traditional medical education.

Computer Simulation↗

PubMed2005

Advance preparation and stimulus-induced interference in cued task switching: further insights from BOLD fMRI.

To switch from one cognitive task to another is thought to rely on additional control effort being indicated by performance costs relative to repeating the same task. This switch cost can be reduced by advance task preparation. In the present experiment the nature of advance preparation was investigated by comparing a situation where an explicit task cue was presented 2000 ms in advance of the target stimulus (CTI-2000) with a situation where cue and target were presented in close succession (CTI-100). We mapped the blood-oxygenation-level-dependent (BOLD) activation correlates of switch-related control effort and advance task preparation to test alternative explanations why advance preparation is reducing switch costs. A previously reported control-related cortical network of frontal and parietal brain areas emerged that was more strongly activated for switching between tasks. However, this was true exclusively for CTI-100 where no advance task preparation was possible. At CTI-2000 these same brain areas were equally engaged in both switch and repeat trials. For some of these areas, this common activation was time-locked to the presentation of both the cue as well as the target. Other areas were exclusively associated with target processing. The overall pattern of results suggests that advance task preparation is a common process of pre-activating (cue-locked activation) the currently relevant task set which does not face interference from a persisting N - 1 task set. During target processing the same brain areas are re-engaged (subsequent target-locked activation) to apply the pre-activated task set. Though being common to repeat and switch trials, advance preparation has a differential benefit for switch trials. This is because the instructed task set has time to settle into a stable state, thus becoming resistant against disruption from the previous task set, which is retrieved by the current target stimulus.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

On the origins of the task mixing cost in the cuing task-switching paradigm.

Poorer performance in conditions involving task repetition within blocks of mixed tasks relative to task repetition within blocks of single task is called mixing cost (MC). In 2 experiments exploring 2 hypotheses regarding the origins of MC, participants either switched between cued shape and color tasks, or they performed them as single tasks. Experiment 1 supported the hypothesis that mixed-tasks trials require the resolution of task ambiguity by showing that MC existed only with ambiguous stimuli that afforded both tasks and not with unambiguous stimuli affording only 1 task. Experiment 2 failed to support the hypothesis that holding multiple task sets in working memory (WM) generates MC by showing that systematic manipulation of the number of stimulus-response rules in WM did not affect MC. The results emphasize the role of competition management between task sets during task control.

Cues↗

PubMed2005

Using advanced simulation for recognition and correction of gaps in airway and breathing management skills in prehospital trauma care.

In this prospective study, we used two full-scale prehospital trauma scenarios (severe chest injury and severe head injury) and checklists of specific actions, reflecting essential actions for a safe treatment and successful outcome, were used to assess performance of postinternship physician graduates of the Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) course. In the first 36 participants, simulated training followed basic training in airway and breathing management, whereas in the next 36 participants, 45 min of simulative training in airway management using the Air-Man simulator (Laerdal, Norway) were added before performing the study scenarios. The content of training was based on common mistakes performed by participants of the first group. After the change in training, the number of participants not performing cricoid pressure or not using medication during intubation decreased from 55% (20 of 36) to 8% (3 of 36) and from 42% (15 of 36) to 11% (4 of 36), respectively (P < 0.05). The number of participants not holding the tube properly before fixation decreased from 28% (10 of 36) to 0% (0 of 36) (P < 0.05). In the severe head trauma scenario, performed by 15 of 36 participants in each group, the incidence of mistakes in the management of secondary airway or breathing problems after initial intubation decreased from 60% (9 of 15) to 0% (0 of 15) (P < 0.05). The present study highlights problems in prehospital trauma management, as provided by the ATLS course. It seems that graduates may benefit from simulation-based airway and breathing training. However, clinical benefits from simulation-based training need to be evaluated.

Clinical Competence↗

PubMed2003

Equivalence of cognitive processes in brain imaging and behavioral studies: evidence from task switching.

A growing number of studies on the higher-order cognitive functions of the human brain use brain-imaging techniques, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). For the validity and generality of fMRI results, it is important that the relevant cognitive processes are equivalent to those functioning in typical settings used in behavioral research. This equivalence could be, for example, endangered by different spatial frames of reference when lying in the scanner. In the present study, we tested whether the cognitive processes, as reflected in behavioral data in brain-imaging settings, are indeed functionally equivalent to those reflected in "purely" behavioral settings. To this end, we used a task-switching paradigm with a spatial component, increasing the likelihood to find effects of experimental setting. We compared the data of three different groups that only differed in testing environments (real, operating fMRI vs simulated fMRI vs standard behavioral with upright position of participants) but used otherwise strictly equivalent experimental conditions. Of importance for our validation purposes, unlike previous studies, we included a group with a behavioral setting, and we tested whether we would replicate a nontrivial, complex three-way interaction across all three groups. We replicated the predicted complex data pattern in all groups, suggesting functional equivalence of the underlying cognitive processes. We also found strongly increased reaction time (RT) levels in the two fMRI groups. We attribute this increase to unspecific distracting factors affecting late motor processes and discuss potential methodological implications of this increased baseline RT in the scanner.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

When the same response has different meanings: recoding the response meaning in the lateral prefrontal cortex.

The ability to adapt our behavioral repertoire to different situations and tasks is crucial for our behavioral control. Since the same motor behavior can have different meanings in different task situations, we often have to change the meaning of our responses when we get into a different task context. In a functional MRI experiment we manipulated this response recoding process. Subjects were required to execute two simple spatial tasks in a task switching paradigm. In one condition both tasks required the same set of responses, hence each response had two different meanings depending on the relevant task (bivalent condition). In the other condition subjects used a separate set of responses for each task (univalent condition). While subjects were required to recode the meaning when switching from one task to the next in the bivalent condition, response recoding was not required in the univalent condition. We demonstrate that the lateral prefrontal cortex is involved in recoding of response meaning. These results extend previous assumptions on the role of the prefrontal cortex in behavioral control.

Adult↗