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Athletes of skill-oriented sports (hereinafter referred to as “skilled athletes”), such as gymnasts and rhythmic gymnasts, have demonstrated better postural control than nonathletes. However, previous studies have mainly focused on single postural tasks and have not considered how skilled athletes use and allocate attentional resources during postural control. This research used the event-related potential (ERP) to explore the postural control performance of skilled athletes under cognitive processes and their utilization and allocation of attentional resources. A dual-task paradigm was used to simulate the actual situation in sports. 26 skilled athletes and 26 nonathletes were required to perform postural control and task-switching simultaneously. The results showed that skilled athletes demonstrated more postural control stability and a higher accuracy of task-switching than nonathletes in all dual tasks. Compared with nonathletes, they showed a stable enhanced N1 (electrodes: Oz, O1, and O2) amplitude during three postures. Moreover, larger N2 component on Fz, FCz, and Cz and theta band power was found in the frontal cortex (on Fz, FCz) of skilled athletes under feet together and single leg standing posture. The study illustrated that skilled athletes show greater frontal activation during dual tasks, which allows for more rational and flexible brain attentional resource input and allocation in cognitive processes, this may be due to long-term professional training, which enables them to have a higher level of automation of postural control and cognitive flexibility. This study’s results offer valuable insights into the interplay between postural control and multitasking in skilled athletes, and its outcomes carry significant implications for the training and assessment of athletes across various sports.

ObjectivePostural control plays a key role in skill-oriented sports. Athletes of skill-oriented sports (hereinafter referred to as “skilled athletes”) usually showed better control ability compared with non-athletes. However, research focused on the single postural task, rarely considering the actual situation in skill-oriented sports in which other processes, such as cognitive control, frequently accompany postural control. This study aims to explore how skilled athletes control their posture under the dual-task situation and use limited attentional resources.MethodA total of 26 skilled athletes and 26 non-athletes were required to perform the postural control and N-back tasks simultaneously. Center of pressure (COP) trajectory, reaction times (RTs), and discriminability (d′) of N-back tasks were recorded and evaluated, along with event-related potentials, including N1 (Oz, PO7, and PO8), P2 (Fz, FCz, Cz, and Pz) components, and the spectral power of alpha band.ResultsSkilled athletes demonstrated more postural control stability and a higher d′ than non-athletes in all dual tasks. Besides, they showed enhanced N1, P2 amplitudes and reduced alpha band power during dual-tasking. Notably, in skilled athletes, a significant negative correlation between N1 amplitude and d′ was observed, while significant positive correlations between alpha band power and postural control performance were also identified.ConclusionThis study investigates the potential advantages of skilled athletes in postural control from the view of neuroscience. Compared to non-athletes, skilled athletes could decrease the consumption of attentional resources in postural control and recruit more attentional resources in stimulus discrimination and evaluation in cognitive tasks. Since the allocation of attentional resources plays a crucial part in postural control in skilled athletes, optimizing the postural control training program and the selection of skilled athletes from a dual-task perspective is important.

Online medical consultation (OMC) is generating considerable interest among researchers and practitioners due to the mandatory quarantine measures implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic in China. However, the acceptance rate of OMC has declined over time. This paper aims to empirically investigate OMC acceptance using a proposed research model by integrating the technology acceptance model (TAM) with trust and its antecedent variables. A quantitative self-administered cross-sectional survey was conducted to collect data from 260 healthcare consumers. A partial least squares structural equation modeling method was used to examine the data. Results revealed that healthcare consumers’ behavioral intention was influenced by attitudes, while perceived usefulness and trust significantly influenced behavioral intention through attitude as a mediator. In addition, perceived risk, perceived privacy protection, network externalities, cognitive reputation, and interactivity directly influenced trust. Overall, the research model explained 50% of the variance in attitude and 71% of the variance in behavioral intention. The study’s findings should provide useful insights into making effective design, development, and implementation decisions for OMC services.

Augmented reality heads-up display (AR-HUD) is becoming increasingly popular as a way to keep drivers focusing on roads. By overlaying visuals on the windshield, AR-HUDs improve the drivers’ view of the environment outside the car, creating a stronger sense of awareness of the surroundings. However, whether AR-HUD and to what extent different AR-HUD layouts could improve drivers’ driving performance are still questionable. Unfortunately, AR-HUD is still at a research stage, not yet fully commercialized. Hence, there are few actual products in the market available for testing. For this reason, this study developed a virtual reality driving simulator to tested drivers’ driving performance environment under three scenarios: without AR-HUD, dispersed layout (AR-HUD1), and dense layout (AR-HUD2). Twelve subjects were invited to join the experiment. Their driving performance was measured in various aspects. This study showed that AR-HUD with interfaces that conform to human-computer interaction principles and visual design rules could improve cognitive resource allocation and promote driving safety. Conversely, a poor designed AR-HUD could negatively impact driving safety.