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Luktämnen i omgivningen kan utgöra distraktorer som försämrar den kognitiva prestationen. Detta gör luktens påverkan till en viktig arbetsmiljöfråga. De flesta vänjer sig vid lukter i omgivningen – de habituerar. Men ibland sker inte denna tillvänjning. Syftet var att undersöka ifall det finns ett samband mellan skillnad i habituering till ett luktämne och arbetsminne och inhibering. En grupp av 40 individer i åldrarna 19 till 64 exponerades för n-butanol under 45 minuter. Deltagarna gjorde upprepade skattningar av luktämnets intensitet och delades in i grupperna: icke-habituerare och habituerare. Före och under exponeringen utförde deltagarna 3-back, ämnat att mäta arbetsminne, och Stroop, ämnat att mäta inhibering. Gruppen icke-habituerare tenderade att prestera sämre på 3-back både före och under exponeringen. Oförmåga till habituering kan vara ett beteendeuttryck för sämre arbetsminneskapacitet och eventuellt andra sårbarhetsfaktorer. Dessa faktorer bör undersökas vidare. / Odorants in the environment can serve as distractors that impair cognitive performance. The impact of odors constitute an important occupational health issue. Most people get used to smells in the environment – they habituate. But occasionally habituation does not occur. The aim was to investigate whether there is a correlation between difference in habituation to an odorant and working memory and inhibition. A group of 40 individuals between the ages of 19 to 64, were exposed to n-butanol for 45 minutes. Participants made repeated ratings of intensity of the odorant. Two groups were created based on non-habituation and habituation. Before and during the exposure, the participants performed 3-back, used to measure working memory, and Stroop, used to measure inhibition. The group who did not habituate showed a tendency to perform worse on 3-back, before and during exposure. Inability to habituate may be a behavioral expression of poorer working memory capacity, and possibly other vulnerability factors. These factors should be further investigated.

Synaesthesia is a variation of normal human perception. A grapheme synaesthete, for example, can experience extra sensations, such as colours when seeing letters and/or numbers. Synaesthetic ability is commonly developed at an early age, and is linked to a genetic pre-disposition; however, there is a learnt component, as one must also learn to read and write to develop grapheme synaesthesia. To explore the extent to which synaesthesia can be learnt, a training method was employed, which was first used by Colizoli, Murre and Rouw (2012). In order to learn their own coloured letters a group of non-synaesthetic individuals read colour books, which are free eBooks reproduced to have four letters consistently appear in colour. Before and after reading, the participants completed a modified Stroop-design based on Mills (1999), which was used to measure if they had learnt the two key characteristics of synaesthesia, namely an involuntary and automatic reaction to letters. Both the colour reading (n=15) and control (n=6) groups did not have a significant involuntary reaction to letters. However, it was found that the participants had significantly more automatic reactions to letters. This included the control group, who did not read in colour, which suggests that merely completing the modified Stroop test is enough to learn the automatic characteristic of grapheme synaesthesia. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)

Objectif: Cette étude visait à évaluer les effets aigus d’une session d’exercice aérobie sur la performance à une tâche sollicitant les fonctions cognitives exécutives et à déterminer la durée de ces effets. Méthode: Quarante-huit participants universitaires ont été divisés en deux groupes expérimentaux et un groupe contrôle. L'intervention expérimentale consistait à 30 minutes d'exercice à une intensité sous-maximale sur tapis roulant. Les deux groupes expérimentaux ont complété la tâche de Stroop soit immédiatement (groupe 1) ou 10 minutes (groupe 2) après la session d’exercice. Le groupe contrôle a complété la même tâche cognitive mais sans pratique d'exercice. Résultats: Les analyses statistiques indiquent qu’il n’y a pas d’effet d’amélioration de la performance cognitive et ce, peu importe le délai d’exécution de la tâche de Stroop suite à l’exercice. Conclusion : Une seule session d’exercice n’a aucun effet sur les fonctions exécutives. Les limites de l’étude sont présentées en relation avec les résultats obtenus. Les implications des résultats sont discutées en terme de retombées pour les recherches futures. / Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of a brief bout of physical exercise on executive cognitive functions and to determine the duration of these effects. Method: Forty-eight healthy, undergraduate male students were divided into two experimental groups and one control group. The experimental intervention was a 30 minutes aerobic exercise on a treadmill. Both groups completed the Stroop test either immediately after the exercise (group 1) or 10 minutes later (group 2). The control group performed the same cognitive task but without any exercise. Results: Statistical analyses did not indicate an effect of exercise on cognitive functioning, whether the cognitive task was performed immediately or 10 minutes after the exercise. Conclusion: One bout of exercise did not influence performance on a cognitive functions task. Results are discussed in terms of methodological limitations and future research implications.

Thèse numérisée par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

O objetivo da presente tese foi verificar a influência do enxágue bucal com carboidrato (CHO) sobre o desempenho no exercício físico predominantemente aeróbio realizado após uma atividade cognitiva frequentemente utilizada para induzir a fadiga mental. Sete homens fisicamente ativos participaram do estudo (idade: 26 ± 5 anos; estatura: 176,0 ± 8,3 cm; massa corporal: 73,6 ± 7,4 kg e gordura corporal: 14,3 ± 3,7 %, VO2 pico: 43,9 ± 6,5 ml.kg-1.min-1, Wpico: 268 ± 23,8 W) realizaram o Stroop Incongruente para indução da Fadiga Mental (FM) ou assistiam a um documentário pelo mesmo período de tempo (controle, CON). Após a tarefa eles realizaram um exercício de carga constante (~55%Wpico) até exaustão. Em cada uma das condições FM e CON os voluntários utilizavam o enxágue bucal (10s) com CHO ou placebo (PLA). No pre-exercício, não houve diferença estatisticamente significante para glicose entre as diferentes condições. A frequência cardíaca apresentou aumento após todas as intervenções, assim como a fadiga percebida (P = 0,001, ES = 0,49), mas sem efeito de condição. O effect size foi moderado para essa variável, sugerindo que o aumento na fadiga percebida foi maior na condição FM (75%) quando comparado a condição CON (60%). A motivação não apresentou diferença entre as condições. Porém, houve uma tendência (0,07) a ser maior na condição DOC. Houve uma redução de 7,8% no tempo até exaustão na condição FM comparado ao CON, entretanto, essa diferença não foi estatisticamente significante. A frequência cardíaca, percepção subjetiva do esforço, fadiga percebida e eletromiografia do músculo vasto lateral aumentaram em função do tempo, sem diferença entre as condições. Com base nesses achados, pode-se concluir que a FM produz apenas um pequeno efeito deletério no exercício físico prologado e que o enxágue com CHO não era capaz de influenciar nessas condições experimentais. Possivelmente, isso se deve ao fato de ambas as intervenções estudadas (FM e enxágue com CHO) produzirem apenas pequenas alterações nas variáveis fisiológicas e perceptivas antes do exercício físico / The aim of this thesis was verify the influence of carbohydrate mouth rinse (CHO) on endurance performance after cognitive activity frequently used to induce mental fatigue. Seven health men (age: 26 ± 5 years; height: 176.0 ± 8.3 cm; weight: 73.6 ± 7.4 kg; and corporal fat: 14.3 ± 3.7%, VO2peak: 43.9 ± 6.5 ml.kg-1.min-1, Wpeak: 268.0 ± 23.8 W) performed an Incongruent Stroop to induce mental fatigue (FM) state or watched a documentary (control, CON) prior to endurance exercise. Following, they performed a workload exercise (~55%Wpeak) until exhaustion with CHO or placebo (PLA) mouth rinse (10s). In the pre-exercise, there was no significant difference for blood glucose between conditions. There was a main effect of distance for heart rate and perceived fatigue, but without interaction (P > 0.05) or condition (P > 0.05) effects. However, there was a moderate effect size for perceived fatigue (ES = 0,49), suggesting a possible relevant increase in perceived fatigue in the FM condition (75%) when compared to CON condition (60%). Although did not reach a significance level, the motivation tended (P = 0.07) to be greater in DOC condition. There was a reduction of 7.8% in time to exhaustion in FM condition compared to CON, however did not reach a significance level (P > 0.05). During exercise, the heart rate, rating perceived exertion, perception of fatigue and electromyography of the vastus lateralis increased over time (P < 0.05), but without interaction (P > 0.05) or condition (P > 0.05) effects. These results suggest that FM produce only a small deleterious effect in the prolonged physical exercise and that carbohydrate mouth rinse was not able to influence the endurance performance at all experimental conditions. Possibly, this is due to the fact of the experimental interventions (FM and carbohydrate mouth rinse) produced only discrete changes in the physiological and perceptual variables before endurance exercise

L’étude présentée explore les modulations du contrôle émotionnel dans les interactions du langage et des émotions, chez 23 sujets atteints de schizophrénie en état de stabilisation et 21 sujets atteints de troubles bipolaires en phase euthymique. Les interactions ont été envisagées d’une part dans le sens des émotions via le langage avec une tâche expérimentale de Stroop émotionnel conditionné, puis en contraste dans le sens du langage via les émotions avec une tâche expérimentale de décision lexicale avec des voisins orthographiques à connotation émotionnelle. Les résultats mettent en évidence une hyper‐réactivité émotionnelle positive dans les troubles bipolaires et des troubles du contrôle cognitif émotionnel dans la schizophrénie. Ces deux maladies présentent des chevauchements dans les altérations cognitives qui ne permettent pasencore de distinguer des marqueurs cognitifs. Cependant, les résultats de cette étude indiquent que les processus impliqués dans les perturbations du traitement des mots à connotation émotionnelle sont de natures différentes entre ces deux pathologies. Dès ors, le présent dispositif pourrait s’avérer utile pour différencier la schizophrénie des troubles bipolaires. / The present study explores the modulations of the emotional control in the interactions of the language and the emotions, to 23 affected subjects of schizophrenia in state of stabilization and 21 affected subjects of bipolar disorders in euthymic phase. The interactions were envisaged on one hand in the sense of the feelings via the language with an experimental taskof conditioned emotional Stroop, then in contrast in the sense of the language via the feelings with an experimental task of lexical decision with orthographic neighbors with emotional connotation. The results highlight an emotional positive hyper-reactivity in bipolar disorders and disorders of the emotional cognitive control in the schizophrenia. These two diseasespresent overlappings in the cognitive changes which do not still allow to distinguish cognitive markers. However, the results of this study indicate that the processes involved in the disturbances of the processing of the words with emotional connotation are of different natures between these two pathologies. From then on, the present study could turn out usefulto differentiate the schizophrenia of bipolar disorders.

O objetivo da presente tese foi verificar a influência do enxágue bucal com carboidrato (CHO) sobre o desempenho no exercício físico predominantemente aeróbio realizado após uma atividade cognitiva frequentemente utilizada para induzir a fadiga mental. Sete homens fisicamente ativos participaram do estudo (idade: 26 ± 5 anos; estatura: 176,0 ± 8,3 cm; massa corporal: 73,6 ± 7,4 kg e gordura corporal: 14,3 ± 3,7 %, VO2 pico: 43,9 ± 6,5 ml.kg-1.min-1, Wpico: 268 ± 23,8 W) realizaram o Stroop Incongruente para indução da Fadiga Mental (FM) ou assistiam a um documentário pelo mesmo período de tempo (controle, CON). Após a tarefa eles realizaram um exercício de carga constante (~55%Wpico) até exaustão. Em cada uma das condições FM e CON os voluntários utilizavam o enxágue bucal (10s) com CHO ou placebo (PLA). No pre-exercício, não houve diferença estatisticamente significante para glicose entre as diferentes condições. A frequência cardíaca apresentou aumento após todas as intervenções, assim como a fadiga percebida (P = 0,001, ES = 0,49), mas sem efeito de condição. O effect size foi moderado para essa variável, sugerindo que o aumento na fadiga percebida foi maior na condição FM (75%) quando comparado a condição CON (60%). A motivação não apresentou diferença entre as condições. Porém, houve uma tendência (0,07) a ser maior na condição DOC. Houve uma redução de 7,8% no tempo até exaustão na condição FM comparado ao CON, entretanto, essa diferença não foi estatisticamente significante. A frequência cardíaca, percepção subjetiva do esforço, fadiga percebida e eletromiografia do músculo vasto lateral aumentaram em função do tempo, sem diferença entre as condições. Com base nesses achados, pode-se concluir que a FM produz apenas um pequeno efeito deletério no exercício físico prologado e que o enxágue com CHO não era capaz de influenciar nessas condições experimentais. Possivelmente, isso se deve ao fato de ambas as intervenções estudadas (FM e enxágue com CHO) produzirem apenas pequenas alterações nas variáveis fisiológicas e perceptivas antes do exercício físico / The aim of this thesis was verify the influence of carbohydrate mouth rinse (CHO) on endurance performance after cognitive activity frequently used to induce mental fatigue. Seven health men (age: 26 ± 5 years; height: 176.0 ± 8.3 cm; weight: 73.6 ± 7.4 kg; and corporal fat: 14.3 ± 3.7%, VO2peak: 43.9 ± 6.5 ml.kg-1.min-1, Wpeak: 268.0 ± 23.8 W) performed an Incongruent Stroop to induce mental fatigue (FM) state or watched a documentary (control, CON) prior to endurance exercise. Following, they performed a workload exercise (~55%Wpeak) until exhaustion with CHO or placebo (PLA) mouth rinse (10s). In the pre-exercise, there was no significant difference for blood glucose between conditions. There was a main effect of distance for heart rate and perceived fatigue, but without interaction (P > 0.05) or condition (P > 0.05) effects. However, there was a moderate effect size for perceived fatigue (ES = 0,49), suggesting a possible relevant increase in perceived fatigue in the FM condition (75%) when compared to CON condition (60%). Although did not reach a significance level, the motivation tended (P = 0.07) to be greater in DOC condition. There was a reduction of 7.8% in time to exhaustion in FM condition compared to CON, however did not reach a significance level (P > 0.05). During exercise, the heart rate, rating perceived exertion, perception of fatigue and electromyography of the vastus lateralis increased over time (P < 0.05), but without interaction (P > 0.05) or condition (P > 0.05) effects. These results suggest that FM produce only a small deleterious effect in the prolonged physical exercise and that carbohydrate mouth rinse was not able to influence the endurance performance at all experimental conditions. Possibly, this is due to the fact of the experimental interventions (FM and carbohydrate mouth rinse) produced only discrete changes in the physiological and perceptual variables before endurance exercise

L’objectif de ce travail de thèse était d’investiguer l’influence de la valence émotionnelle négative, positive ou taboue des mots parlés sur l’orientation des ressources attentionnelles, dans la population tout-venant. Pour ce faire, j’ai élaboré des adaptations auditives de paradigmes expérimentaux qui avaient été utilisés auparavant dans le but d’explorer l’influence du contenu émotionnel de stimuli visuels sur l’allocation de l’attention : le paradigme de déploiement de l’attention (Etudes 1 et 3), le paradigme de Stroop émotionnel (Etude 2) et le paradigme d’indiçage spatial émotionnel (Etude 4). En particulier, les Etudes 1, 3 et 4 m’ont permis d’examiner l’influence de la valence émotionnelle de ces stimuli sur l’attention sélective à une localisation spatiale, évaluée au travers des réponses à une cible subséquente. Dans la situation de compétition pour les ressources attentionnelles spécifique au paradigme de déploiement de l’attention (Etudes 1 et 3), nous avons observé un engagement préférentiel des ressources attentionnelles vers la localisation spatiale des mots tabous, lorsque ceux-ci étaient présentés à droite, par rapport à la localisation spatiale des mots neutres présentés conjointement. Ces biais attentionnels ont été observés quelle que soit l’attention portée volontairement aux stimuli, la nature de la tâche à réaliser sur la cible, ou la charge cognitive liée à la tâche. De tels biais ont également été observés envers la localisation spatiale des mots négatifs et positifs, mais de manière moins robuste. Lorsque deux stimuli rivalisent pour l’orientation des ressources, la valence choquante serait donc cruciale pour l’orientation de l’attention spatiale. De plus, les mots tabous induisent un ralentissement général des temps de réaction (TRs) à la cible subséquente, quelle que soit sa localisation spatiale. Au contraire, lorsque des mots-indices sont présentés isolément dans le paradigme d’indiçage spatial émotionnel (Etude 4), la valence émotionnelle négative des mots, mais pas leur valence choquante, paraît cruciale pour l’observation d’effets spatiaux : les stimuli les plus négatifs moduleraient l’orientation spatiale automatique de l’attention suscitée par leur présentation périphérique. Plus précisément, ils empêcheraient l’application de processus attentionnels inhibiteurs des localisations déjà explorées. En outre, la présentation d’un indice périphérique négatif accélère le traitement d’une cible subséquente, quelle que soit sa localisation spatiale. L’influence de la dimension émotionnelle des mots parlés sur l’attention sélective à une dimension (non-émotionnelle) de ces stimuli a été investiguée grâce au paradigme de Stroop émotionnel (Etude 2). Contrairement à mes autres études, aucun déplacement attentionnel spatial n’était impliqué dans cette situation puisque les participants devaient répondre à chaque essai à une dimension non-émotionnelle (l’identité du locuteur) du stimulus (potentiellement émotionnel) présenté. J’ai ainsi observé une influence de la dimension émotionnelle taboue ou négative des mots sur le traitement de la dimension pertinente d’un mot neutre subséquent, mais pas sur le traitement de la dimension pertinente de ces mots eux-mêmes, suggérant l’occurrence d’effets lents, inter-essais, des mots tabous et négatifs, mais pas d’effet rapide. Ces données appuient donc l’existence, dans une population tout-venant, d’un mécanisme de traitement involontaire du contenu émotionnel des mots parlés qui influence non seulement l’orientation spatiale et dimensionnelle de l’attention mais également, de manière plus générale, la latence des réponses fournies par le sujet.