Intelligence quotients of pilots in civil aviation with atherosclerotic changes in the brain vessels

Abstract

Intelligence quotients (IQs) in pilots of civil aviation were studied. A total of 73 healthy pilots (control group) and 70 pilots with atherosclerosis of the brain vessels, including 23 persons with atherosclerotic plaques, were studied. The study of intellectual indices was performed using the classical Eysenck’s tests and their modifications by Gorbov in a computer variant developed by Sobchik. In pilots with atherosclerosis of the brain vessels, a tendency towards an insignificant decrease in the indices of average values of IQ as compared to those of healthy pilots was recorded. The IQs of the examined pilots indicated their occupational fitness. Despite the presence of atherosclerotic plaques in the group of pilots examined by us, the results of numerical (IQ2) and verbal (IQ3) tests were not reduced. The presence of hemodynamically insignificant stable atherosclerotic plaques in pilots examined by us did not lead to a change in the cognitive functions; the intellectual capacities of pilots were preserved, which allowed them to continue flight work.