The Effect of Environmental Factors on the Cognitive Functions of Cadets at a Military Institute

Abstract

The relevance of studying the influence of environmental factors on the psychophysiological characteristics of cognitive functions of cadets at a naval high school is due to a lack of research in this scientific field. The aim of this research is to investigate the effect of seasonal changes of meteorological and cosmophysical factors on the psychophysiological characteristics of cognitive functions and their electrophysiological manifestation. Eighty-one first-year cadets of the Military and Naval Institute have been investigated. The registration of electroencephalography, parameters of heart-rate variability (HRV), and photoplethysmographic characteristics of the cardiovascular system (CVS) are used simultaneously with psychophysiological tests in the autumn–winter and spring period. It is established that, during autumn–winter periods with higher solar activity, speed of the wind, total cloudiness, and low temperatures of atmospheric air in comparison with the spring period, the displacement of the balance of nervous processes towards is observed. In the autumn–winter period, a decrease in the effectiveness of attention and spatial orientation and a reduction in the effectiveness of solving arithmetic problems are recorded. At the same time, multidirectional changes in the bioelectrical activity of the sensorimotor cortex of the right and left hemispheres are recorded. These changes depended on the type of functional samples. Heart-rate variability and vascular tone decrease during this period.