Recent from talks
Alertness
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Alertness
Alertness is a state of active attention characterized by high sensory awareness. Someone who is alert is vigilant and promptly meets danger or emergency, or is quick to perceive and act. Alertness is a psychological and physiological state.
Lack of alertness is a symptom of a number of conditions, including narcolepsy, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, chronic fatigue syndrome, depression, Addison's disease, and sleep deprivation. Pronounced lack of alertness is an altered level of consciousness. States with low levels of alertness include drowsiness.
The word is formed from "alert", which comes from the Italian all'erta (on the watch, literally: on the height; 1618).[citation needed]
Wakefulness refers mainly to differences between the sleep and waking states; vigilance refers to sustained alertness and concentration. Both terms are sometimes used synonymously with alertness.
People who have to be alert during their jobs, such as air traffic controllers or pilots, often face challenges maintaining their alertness. Research shows that for people "...engaged in attention-intensive and monotonous tasks, retaining a constant level of alertness is rare if not impossible." If people employed in safety-related or transportation jobs have lapses in alertness, this "may lead to severe consequences in occupations ranging from air traffic control to monitoring of nuclear power plants."
Neurotransmitters that can initiate, promote, or enhance wakefulness or alertness include serotonin, (nor)epinephrine, dopamine (e.g. blockade of dopamine reuptake), glutamate, histamine, and acetylcholine. Neuromodulators that can do so include the neuropeptide orexin. Similarly inhibition or reduction of mechanisms causing sleepiness, or drowsiness such as certain cytokines and adenosine (as with caffeine) may also increase perceived wakefulness and thus alertness.[ambiguous]
Wakefulness depends on the coordinated effort of multiple brain areas. These are affected by neurotransmitters and other factors. Many Neurotransmitters are in effect to experience wakefulness to include GABA, Acetylcholine, Adenosine, Serotonin, Norepinephrine, Histamine, and Dopamine. There is not an isolated neurotransmitter that alone is responsible for the sensation of wakefulness. However, it is known that many transmitters are used together to cause this effect. Research to map the wakefulness circuitry is ongoing.
Beta power has been used as an indicator of cortical arousal or alertness by several studies.[further explanation needed] A study also measured alertness with EEG data.[further explanation needed]
Hub AI
Alertness AI simulator
(@Alertness_simulator)
Alertness
Alertness is a state of active attention characterized by high sensory awareness. Someone who is alert is vigilant and promptly meets danger or emergency, or is quick to perceive and act. Alertness is a psychological and physiological state.
Lack of alertness is a symptom of a number of conditions, including narcolepsy, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, chronic fatigue syndrome, depression, Addison's disease, and sleep deprivation. Pronounced lack of alertness is an altered level of consciousness. States with low levels of alertness include drowsiness.
The word is formed from "alert", which comes from the Italian all'erta (on the watch, literally: on the height; 1618).[citation needed]
Wakefulness refers mainly to differences between the sleep and waking states; vigilance refers to sustained alertness and concentration. Both terms are sometimes used synonymously with alertness.
People who have to be alert during their jobs, such as air traffic controllers or pilots, often face challenges maintaining their alertness. Research shows that for people "...engaged in attention-intensive and monotonous tasks, retaining a constant level of alertness is rare if not impossible." If people employed in safety-related or transportation jobs have lapses in alertness, this "may lead to severe consequences in occupations ranging from air traffic control to monitoring of nuclear power plants."
Neurotransmitters that can initiate, promote, or enhance wakefulness or alertness include serotonin, (nor)epinephrine, dopamine (e.g. blockade of dopamine reuptake), glutamate, histamine, and acetylcholine. Neuromodulators that can do so include the neuropeptide orexin. Similarly inhibition or reduction of mechanisms causing sleepiness, or drowsiness such as certain cytokines and adenosine (as with caffeine) may also increase perceived wakefulness and thus alertness.[ambiguous]
Wakefulness depends on the coordinated effort of multiple brain areas. These are affected by neurotransmitters and other factors. Many Neurotransmitters are in effect to experience wakefulness to include GABA, Acetylcholine, Adenosine, Serotonin, Norepinephrine, Histamine, and Dopamine. There is not an isolated neurotransmitter that alone is responsible for the sensation of wakefulness. However, it is known that many transmitters are used together to cause this effect. Research to map the wakefulness circuitry is ongoing.
Beta power has been used as an indicator of cortical arousal or alertness by several studies.[further explanation needed] A study also measured alertness with EEG data.[further explanation needed]