Processing speed
Reaction-time measure of complex attention
Also searched as Reaction-time measure of complex attention.
In depth
A subdomain of complex attention: the raw speed of taking information in and acting on it. Measured as reaction time, not accuracy — and the two come apart, which is why this is its own node.
What drives it
Nerve insulation increases it.
10.1177/20552173261446217 — In diffuse areas of frontal and parietal white matter, especially the anterior corpus callosum, fractional anisotropy values correlated negatively with reaction time. PMC3503892 Measured as white-matter integrity on diffusion imaging (DTI), an indirect proxy for myelin. doi 10.1177/20552173261446217 · PMC3503892
Timing perception increases it.
Verbatim: 'reduced suprathreshold wave I responses were associated with thinner temporal and parietal cortices, and with slower processing speed as evidenced by the Trail-Making Test-A and digit symbol performance' (PMC7237004, PMC6793092). Tier: human observational data + animal mechanism. non-demented elders =65y; the temporal channel is auditory (suprathreshold auditory-nerve encoding, gap detection). Stops: the human arm is correlational, no. PMC7237004
Vision increases it.
within subjects, lower contrast was associated with longer latencies, indicating an effect on information processing speed. PMC8285732
What it drives
It increases Sharpens attention.
The DSM-5 Neurocognitive Work Group agreed on six principal domains of cognitive function, each with subdomains. Complex attention comprises sustained, divided and selective attention and processing speed. Taxonomic edge, not a causal mechanism: this is a DSM-5 domain/subdomain relationship, not a pathway acting on another. Sachdev 2014, Nat Rev Neurol 10:634-642 — Classifying neurocognitive disorders: the DSM-5 approach. doi 10.1038/nrneurol.2014.181
It increases Balance & falls.
falls may not be a result of balance deficits in isolation, but the inability to effectively allocate attention to postural stability in dual task situations. Verbatim from the source for this edge — PMC5742581 (body). PMC5742581
It increases Timing perception.
Temporal processing is a measured subdomain of processing speed. doi 10.3389/fnagi.2018.00352 · PMC6232528
Blends that modulate it
Each blend page names this pathway and carries the study behind its claim.
See it on the map
Open the causal map to follow this pathway upstream and downstream, arrow by arrow, each with its study.