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Cognitive load associations when utilizing auditory display within image-guided neurosurgery

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International Journal of Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

The combination of data visualization and auditory display (e.g., sonification) has been shown to increase accuracy, and reduce perceived difficulty, within 3D navigation tasks. While accuracy within such tasks can be measured in real time, subjective impressions about the difficulty of a task are more elusive to obtain. Prior work utilizing electrophysiology (EEG) has found robust support that cognitive load and working memory can be monitored in real time using EEG data.

Methods

In this study, we replicated a 3D navigation task (within the context of image-guided surgery) while recording data pertaining to participants’ cognitive load through the use of EEG relative alpha-band weighting data. Specifically, 13 subjects navigated a tracked surgical tool to randomly placed 3D virtual locations on a CT cerebral angiography volume while being aided by visual, aural, or both visual and aural feedback. During the study EEG data were captured from the participants, and after the study a NASA TLX questionnaire was filled out by the subjects. In addition to replicating an existing experimental design on auditory display within image-guided neurosurgery, our primary aim sought to determine whether EEG-based markers of cognitive load mirrored subjective ratings of task difficulty

Results

Similar to existing literature, our study found evidence consistent with the hypothesis that auditory display can increase the accuracy of navigating to a specified target. We also found significant differences in cognitive working load across different feedback modalities, but none of which supported the experiments hypotheses. Finally, we found mixed results regarding the relationship between real-time measurements of cognitive workload and a posteriori subjective impressions of task difficulty.

Conclusions

Although we did not find a significant correlation between the subjective and physiological measurements, differences in cognitive working load were found. As well, our study further supports the use of auditory display in image-guided surgery.

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Funding

This study was funded by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC Grant N0759) and Fonds de recherche du Quebec Nature et technologies (FRQNT Grant F01296).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science, Concordia University, EV 3.301, 1455 De Maisonneuve Blvd. W., Montreal, QC, H3G 1M8, Canada

    Joseph Plazak & Marta Kersten-Oertel

  2. Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Daniel A. DiGiovanni & D. Louis Collins

Authors
  1. Joseph Plazak
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  2. Daniel A. DiGiovanni
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  3. D. Louis Collins
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  4. Marta Kersten-Oertel
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marta Kersten-Oertel.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Plazak, J., DiGiovanni, D.A., Collins, D.L. et al. Cognitive load associations when utilizing auditory display within image-guided neurosurgery. Int J CARS 14, 1431–1438 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11548-019-01970-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11548-019-01970-w

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