How a pilot's brain copes with stress and mental load? Insights from the executive control network.

In aviation, mental workload and stress are two major factors that can considerably impact a pilot's flight performance and decisions. Their consequences can be even more dramatic in single-pilot aircraft or with the forthcoming single-pilot operations where the pilot will fly alone and will not be able to be assisted in case of difficulty. An accurate and automatic monitoring of the pilot's mental state could help to prevent the potentially dangerous effects of an excess mental workload and stress.

Busy and confused? High risk of missed alerts in the cockpit: An electrophysiological study.

The ability to react to unexpected auditory stimuli is critical in complex settings such as aircraft cockpits or air traffic control towers, characterized by high mental load and highly complex auditory environments (i.e., many different auditory alerts).

Does hostile intent cause physiological changes? An airport security check simulation experiment.

The present research was aimed at investigating in a simulation experiment whether the initiation of a hostile project in an environment akin to airport security checkpoints would translate in variation of cardiac activity. Twenty-three participants (eight women) enrolled as mock passengers had to make several traverses of a security checkpoint while carrying luggage containing either a neutral or a falsely dangerous item. The traverses with the falsely dangerous item were associated with an elevation of heart rate and higher drops of heart rate variability than the traverses with the neutral item.

Cardiovascular correlates of emotional state, cognitive workload and time-on-task effect during a realistic flight simulation.

In aviation, emotion and cognitive workload can considerably increase the probability of human error. An accurate online physiological monitoring of pilot's mental state could prevent accidents. The heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) of 21 private pilots were analysed during two realistic flight simulator scenarios.