Cognitive limits in project management: An fMRI study on the relationship between information load, mental effort, and decision quality.
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: To understand how information load systematically affects mental effort and decision quality in a project management context, we conducted an fMRI study with twenty-three participants. We used a delayed-response-task with a separate exposure period in which participants visually explored information about project performance in form of graphs, a delay period in which participants could continue to mentally prepare their decision, and a response period in which they made decisions on the continuation of the project. While in a pre-study we found that an increasing information load affects the self-reported mental effort in an U-shaped form, i.e. the medium load condition feels less cognitively demanding compared to the high and the low load conditions, in the main study the blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signal in regions of the brain associated with mental effort – namely the left putamen – exhibited a more complex pattern. We found that when participants were presented with 6 compared to 4 graphs, the BOLD signal reflected a linear increase during the exposure but not during the delay period. Instead, when increasing the amount of data points within the graphs (2, 4 or 8), there was a signal increase during the delay but not in the exposure period. Further, we found a significant positive correlation between the activity in the left putamen (exposure and delay) and decision quality. Our results suggest that the left putamen plays a crucial role in the coordination of limited cognitive resources for acquiring information and decision-making. We discuss the implications for project management.
DOI: 10.1037/npe0000203
Authors: Ann K. Tank, Axel Lindner, Burkhard Pedell
Language: English
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4411806577