Obstructive Sleep Apnea Among Army Aircrew.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a condition characterized by disrupted sleep and excessive daytime fatigue. Associated cognitive and psychomotor decrements pose a threat to aviators' performance and flight safety. Additionally, the longer term health effects associated with the disease can jeopardize an aviator's career and negatively impact operational outputs.

A new approach to manipulating aviator workload: A case for individualizing workload manipulations.

The present study sought to manipulate workload individually for participants to evaluate whether individual manipulations of workload produces similar subjective ratings and performance changes across participants. Participants included eight Army-rated rotary-wing aviators who presented to the laboratory for two separate visits. During the first visit, individual responses to workload were determined, and during the second visit, individually manipulated high workload flights were completed.

Detecting functional deficits following sub-concussive head impacts: the relationship between head impact kinematics and visual-vestibular balance performance.

: Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) continues to be a significant issue facing the US military. While TBI cases in deployed environments are of significant concern, an estimated 80% of diagnoses occur in garrison settings (e.g.

Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor Use Among Army Aviators.

Mental health is an important aspect of Army aviation medicine given that it significantly impacts career longevity, readiness, and healthcare usage. One of the most commonly used classes of medications to treat mental health disorders is the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI). Here we present a descriptive epidemiological review of SSRI use in Army aviators over a 10-yr period.

Symptoms of convergence and accommodative insufficiency predict engagement and cognitive fatigue during complex task performance with and without automation.

Deficits in the accommodative and/or vergence responses have been linked with inattentive behavioral symptoms. While using automated systems (e.g.

Measuring the Domain Specificity of Workload Using EEG: Auditory and Visual Domains in Rotary-Wing Simulated Flight.

Objective: The overarching objective was to evaluate whether workload sensory-domain specificity could be identified through electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings during simulated rotary-wing operations.

Background: Rotary-wing aviators experience workload from different sensory domains, although predominantly through auditory and visual domains. Development of real-time monitoring tools using psychophysiological indices, such as EEG recordings, could enable identification of aviator overload in real time.

Frontal theta-gamma ratio is a sensitive index of concussion history in athletes on tasks of visuo-motor control.

Patients with mTBI often show deficits in executive function and changes in neural activity. Similar changes in those with a history of mTBI (i.e.

Viability of tDCS in Military Environments for Performance Enhancement: A Systematic Review.

Introduction: Transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) as a method of cognitive enhancement in both diseased and healthy individuals has gained popularity. Its potential for enhancing cognition in healthy individuals has gained the interest of the military. However, before it being implemented into military training or operational settings, further work is needed to determine its efficacy and safety.

The effects of dynamic workload and experience on commercially available EEG cognitive state metrics in a high-fidelity air traffic control environment.

The current study evaluated the validity of commercially available electroencephalography (EEG) cognitive state metrics of workload and engagement in differentially experienced air traffic control (ATC) students. EEG and pupil diameter recordings were collected from 47 ATC students (27 more experienced and 20 less experienced) during a high-fidelity, variable workload approach-control scenario. Scenario workload was manipulated by increasing the number of aircraft released and the presence of a divided attention task.

Rest and Activity Patterns of Army Aviators in Routine and Operational Training Environments.

Fatigue continues to be a leading cause of military aviation mishaps. Several factors, including reversed shift missions, can negatively affect sleep patterns and increase the risk of fatigue due to sleep restriction. Currently, there is a lack of objective data regarding the current rest and activity patterns of military aviators across multiple operational conditions.