Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Social Facilitation01:04

Social Facilitation

Not all intergroup interactions lead to negative outcomes. Sometimes, being in a group situation can improve performance. Social facilitation occurs when an individual performs better when an audience is watching than when the individual performs the behavior alone. This typically occurs when people are performing a task for which they are skilled.
Cognitive Enhancers: Cholinesterase Inhibitors and NMDA Receptor Antagonists01:30

Cognitive Enhancers: Cholinesterase Inhibitors and NMDA Receptor Antagonists

Cognitive enhancers, also known as "smart drugs," are substances used to enhance memory, mental alertness, and concentration. These can be natural or synthetic and improve cognition in conditions like Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other neurodegenerative diseases. Some common examples include caffeine, amphetamines, methylphenidate, modafinil, arecoline, donepezil, vortioxetine, and piracetam. These enhancers work on the principle of synaptic plasticity and altered circuit function. They...
High-Level and Low-Level Awareness01:19

High-Level and Low-Level Awareness

Controlled processes in human consciousness represent high-alert mental states where individuals deliberately focus their attention on achieving specific goals. Controlled processes can be seen in situations like mastering new technology, where a person might become so absorbed that they ignore surrounding distractions. Such processes involve selective attention, requiring one to concentrate on particular elements of experience while disregarding others. These are governed by executive...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

European Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN) position paper on screening, diagnosis and investigation of paediatric metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease.

Journal of pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition·2026
Same author

Refractory autoimmune hepatitis in children: Considerations for assessment and management.

World journal of hepatology·2026
Same author

Top-down selection of visual working memory contents is supported by alpha-band phase-synchronized oscillatory networks.

Imaging neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.)·2025
Same author

A common serial structure causes offline excitability changes linked to generalization between different memory types.

Current biology : CB·2025
Same author

Hormonal risk factors and androgen and glucocorticoid dysregulation in Sjogren's disease and non-Sjogren's sicca.

Rheumatology (Oxford, England)·2025
Same author

Going offline to enhance memory during sleep.

Nature reviews. Neuroscience·2025

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 17, 2026

Intracortical Inhibition Within the Primary Motor Cortex Can Be Modulated by Changing the Focus of Attention
09:48

Intracortical Inhibition Within the Primary Motor Cortex Can Be Modulated by Changing the Focus of Attention

Published on: September 11, 2017

A distraction can impair or enhance motor performance.

Christopher Hemond1, Rachel M Brown, Edwin M Robertson

  • 1Center for Noninvasive Brain Stimulation, Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA.

The Journal of Neuroscience : the Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience
|January 15, 2010
PubMed
Summary

Learning an independent color sequence enhanced motor skill performance. However, concurrently counting red cues impaired motor sequence performance, showing distraction type critically impacts cognitive tasks.

More Related Videos

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Impairing Effect of Emotion on Cognition
16:08

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Impairing Effect of Emotion on Cognition

Published on: February 1, 2012

A Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate Interference in Working Memory by Distractions and Interruptions
10:38

A Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate Interference in Working Memory by Distractions and Interruptions

Published on: July 16, 2015

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 17, 2026

Intracortical Inhibition Within the Primary Motor Cortex Can Be Modulated by Changing the Focus of Attention
09:48

Intracortical Inhibition Within the Primary Motor Cortex Can Be Modulated by Changing the Focus of Attention

Published on: September 11, 2017

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Impairing Effect of Emotion on Cognition
16:08

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Impairing Effect of Emotion on Cognition

Published on: February 1, 2012

A Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate Interference in Working Memory by Distractions and Interruptions
10:38

A Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate Interference in Working Memory by Distractions and Interruptions

Published on: July 16, 2015

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Neuroscience
  • Human Motor Control

Background:

  • Humans possess a remarkable ability for multitasking.
  • Distractions during complex motor skill execution often lead to performance decrements.
  • The impact of distractions on motor performance may depend on distraction characteristics.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how different types of concurrent tasks affect motor sequence learning and performance.
  • To determine if distraction characteristics mediate performance outcomes in motor tasks.
  • To explore the underlying cognitive processes involved in distraction-mediated performance changes.

Main Methods:

  • Participants learned and performed a motor sequence task.
  • Concurrent tasks involved learning an independent color sequence or counting red cues within that sequence.
  • Motor sequence and color sequence parameters (length, elements, temporal patterns) were varied to ensure independence.

Main Results:

  • Simultaneous learning of an independent color sequence substantially enhanced motor sequence performance.
  • Concurrent counting of red cues within the color sequence significantly impaired motor sequence performance.
  • Performance outcomes were dependent on the cognitive processes engaged by the concurrent task.

Conclusions:

  • Distraction does not universally impair motor performance; its effect is contingent on the nature of the distraction.
  • When concurrent tasks engage similar cognitive processes, motor performance can be enhanced.
  • When concurrent tasks engage dissimilar cognitive processes (e.g., sequence learning vs. counting), motor performance can be impaired.
  • These findings offer insights into optimizing cognitive performance by strategically managing distractions.