Modulation of attention and stress with arousal: The mental and physical effects of riding a motorcycle

Don A Vaughn; Michael B Maggiora; Kathryn J Vaughn; Christina J Maggiora; Amir-Vala Tavakoli; William Liang; David Zava; Mark S Cohen; Agatha Lenartowicz

doi:10.1016/j.brainres.2020.147203

Modulation of attention and stress with arousal: The mental and physical effects of riding a motorcycle

Brain Res. 2021 Feb 1:1752:147203. doi: 10.1016/j.brainres.2020.147203. Epub 2021 Jan 19.

Authors

Don A Vaughn¹, Michael B Maggiora², Kathryn J Vaughn², Christina J Maggiora², Amir-Vala Tavakoli³, William Liang⁴, David Zava⁵, Mark S Cohen⁶, Agatha Lenartowicz⁷

Affiliations

¹ Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA. Electronic address: davaughn@ucla.edu.
² Department of Research and Development, Catalyst Agency, Houston, TX, USA.
³ Department of Neurosurgery, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
⁴ Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, Caltech, Pasadena, CA, USA.
⁵ ZRT Laboratory, Beaverton, OR, USA.
⁶ Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Neurology, Radiology, Biomedical Physics, Psychology, Bioengineering and California Nanosystems Institute, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
⁷ Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.

PMID: 33482998
DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2020.147203

Abstract

Existing theories suggest that moderate arousal improves selective attention, as would be expected in the context of competitive sports or sensation-seeking activities. Here we investigated how riding a motorcycle, an attention-demanding physical activity, affects sensory processing. To do so, we implemented the passive auditory oddball paradigm and measured the EEG response of participants as they rode a motorcycle, drove a car, and sat at rest. Specifically, we measured the N1 and mismatch negativity to auditory tones, as well as alpha power during periods of no tones. We investigated whether riding and driving modulated non-CNS metrics including heart rate and concentrations of the hormones epinephrine, cortisol, DHEA-S, and testosterone. While participants were riding, we found a decrease in N1 amplitude, increase in mismatch negativity, and decrease in relative alpha power, together suggesting enhancement of sensory processing and visual attention. Riding increased epinephrine levels, increased heart rate, and decreased the ratio of cortisol to DHEA-S. Together, these results suggest that riding increases focus, heightens the brain's passive monitoring of changes in the sensory environment, and alters HPA axis response. More generally, our findings suggest that selective attention and sensory monitoring seem to be separable neural processes.

Keywords: Attention; EEG; MMN; Motorcycling; N1; Selective attention; Sensory processing.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Arousal / physiology*
Attention / physiology*
Brain / physiology*
Electroencephalography
Evoked Potentials, Auditory
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Motorcycles
Psychomotor Performance*
Stress, Psychological*