Impact of Real and Simulated Flights on Psychophysiological Response of Military Pilots.

Vicente J. Clemente-Suárez,Juan Pedro Fuentes-García,Miguel Ángel Marazuela-Martínez,Santos Villafaina,José F. Tornero-Aguilera

doi:10.3390/ijerph18020787

Abstract

Objective: The present research aimed to analyse the autonomic, anxiety, perceived exertion, and self-confidence response during real and simulated flights. Methods: This cross-sectional study participated 12 experienced male pilots (age = 33.08 (5.21)) from the Spanish Air Force. Participants had to complete a real and a simulated flight mission randomly. The heart rate variability (HRV), anxiety, self-confidence, and rating of perceived exertion were collected before and after both manoeuvres, and HRV was also collected during both simulated and real flights. Results: When studying the acute effects of real and simulated flights, the mean heart rate, the R-to-R interval, the cognitive anxiety and the perceived exertion were significantly impacted only by real flights. Furthermore, significant differences in the mean heart rate and RR interval were found when compared to the acute effects of real and simulated flights (with higher acute effects observed in real flights). Additionally, when compared the HRV values during simulated and real flights, significant differences were observed in the RR and heart rate mean (with lower RR interval and higher heart rate mean observed during real flights). Conclusion: Real flights significantly reduced the RR interval and cognitive anxiety while increased the heart rate mean and the rating of perceived exertion, whereas simulated flights did not induce any significant change in the autonomic modulation.

Highlights

Flight simulators have been used in aviation as an economical and safety tool to train pilots, providing a simulated environment which could mimic real conditions [1]
Significant results were obtained in the mean heart rate (mean HR) and RR variables (p-value < 0.05) when compared the baseline and the post-measure after a real flight
Significant differences were not found between baseline and post-measure

Summary

Introduction

Flight simulators have been used in aviation as an economical and safety tool to train pilots, providing a simulated environment which could mimic real conditions [1]. In order to study the transfer between training conditions and aircraft [2], previous studies have used different psychophysiological tools to investigate the cognitive demands of both simulated and real flights [3,4] This is relevant since this operation requires higher cognitive demands [2,5,6,7] and, the evaluation of the mental workload has emerged as a cornerstone. Heart rate variability (HRV) is a non-invasive tool which studies the successive heartbeats variation [8] This evaluates the balance between sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, as well as it has been considered a measure of heart-brain interaction since it could be modified by cognitive, attentional, anxiogenic, or physical stimulus [9,10,11]. The HRV is considered as a cognitive load biomarker [11,12,13]

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Results

Discussion

Conclusion