New research published in the journal Military Psychology sheds light on how long-duration flight missions impact cognitive performance, subjective emotions, and physiological markers. The findings indicate that some executive functions begin to suffer after spending about 7 hours in simulated flight.
“I am interested in human performance in complex environments. A fighter pilots’ job happens in one of those settings,” explained cognitive neuroscientist Eduardo Rosa, the corresponding author of the new study.
“The study of the phenomena of cognition, emotions and physiology in a high-risk system brings the possibility of expanding the understanding of performance and, consequentially, fostering improvements on safety in several other operational domains.”
In the study, six pilots and six non-pilots engaged in “free flying” and air refueling tasks in a high-fidelity flight simulator. The simulator environment was modeled on the Saab JAS 39 Gripen fighter jet.
The participants wore a full-coverage anti-G suit, helmet, life jacket, and gloves throughout the experiment, which lasted for 12 hours. They were also fitted with electrocardiograph electrodes, which were used to record their heart rate variability, an important measure of how rapidly the heart can adapt to changes in the environment. For sustenance, the participants were provided with 1.5 liters of water as well as three energy bars and three protein bars.
The participants completed a cognitive task battery along with subjective assessments of mood and fatigue at various time points before, during, and after the long-duration mission.
Rosa and his research team found that participants reported significantly increased levels of fatigue and exhibited significantly reduced sustained attention approximately 7 hours into the flight mission. But subjective fatigue did not appear to influence other executive functions, such as short-term memory, working memory, or spatial ability.
The researchers also found an association between heart rate variability and self-reported moods. Increased boredom, increased passiveness, decreased stimulation, and decreased activeness were linked to increases in heart rate variability.
“There is a link between cognition, emotions, and physiology, and these phenomena play a collective role when humans are engaged in operational tasks, especially complex ones,” Rosa told PsyPost. “The characteristics of a single-seat aircraft flying long-duration missions are extremely challenging. No matter how much training pilots have, or how experienced they are, they are also restricted by mental and physical limitations. The planning of long missions in such context must consider these limits for ensuring safety and performance.”
But as with all research, the study includes some limitations.
“It is always challenging to transfer conclusions from a simulation study to the real world,” Rosa said. “By using a high-fidelity simulator, we tried being as close as possible to the characteristics of the fighter aircraft environment. However, we faced some limitations when designing the tasks due to the sensitivity of conducting an experiment inside a military facility. Future studies could use flight tasks concerning real flight missions, if possible.”
“The more we understand human capabilities and limitations in (complex) operational environments, the more we can improve the so-called human-machine interaction,” Rosa added. “This promotes resilience, a fundamental constituent of safety. Such studies have implications in several other domains, such as the Automotive and Maritime industries, where levels of automation must be applied correctly.”
The study, “Cognitive performance, fatigue, emotional and physiological strains in simulated long-duration flight missions“, was authored by Eduardo Rosa, Eugene Lyskov, Mikael Grönkvist, Roger Kölegård, Nicklas Dahlström, Igor Knez, Robert Ljung, and Johan Willander.