Abstract
IntroductionWatchkeeping is a significant activity during maritime operations, and failures of sustained attention and decision‐making can increase the likelihood of a collision.MethodsA study was conducted in a ship bridge simulator where 40 participants (20 experienced/20 inexperienced) performed: (1) a 20‐min period of sustained attention to locate a target vessel and (2) a 10‐min period of decision‐making/action selection to perform an evasive maneuver. Half of the participants also performed an additional task of verbally reporting the position of their vessel. Activation of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) was captured via a 15‐channel functional near‐infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) montage, and measures of functional connectivity were calculated frontal using graph‐theoretic measures.ResultsNeurovascular activation of right lateral area of the PFC decreased during sustained attention and increased during decision‐making. The graph‐theoretic analysis revealed that density declined during decision‐making in comparison with the previous period of sustained attention, while local clustering declined during sustained attention and increased when participants prepared their evasive maneuver. A regression analysis revealed an association between network measures and behavioral outcomes, with respect to spotting the target vessel and making an evasive maneuver.ConclusionsThe right lateral area of the PFC is sensitive to watchkeeping and decision‐making during operational performance. Graph‐theoretic measures allow us to quantify patterns of functional connectivity and were predictive of safety‐critical performance.
Highlights
Watchkeeping is a significant activity during maritime operations, and failures of sustained attention and decision-making can increase the likelihood of a collision
Contextual and episodic levels of control were associated, respectively, with bilateral activation of caudal (BA44/45) and rostral (BA46) regions of the lateral prefrontal cortex (LPC). This model was further developed by Koechlin and colleagues (Domenech & Koechlin, 2015; Koechlin & Summerfield, 2007), who proposed two methods of arbitration for executive control: (a) a peripheral system located in the premotor/caudal/orbitofrontal regions for action selection based on perceptual cues and reward values that are stable and (b) a core system incorporating regions of the ventromedial, dorsomedial, lateral, and polar PFC that adjust between exploitation/ adjustment of previously learned behavioral sets and exploration/ creation of a new behavioral set
Once the target vessel was located during watch4, the participant must appraise the situation and select an appropriate course of action
Summary
Human factors are implicated in 75%-96% of accidents that occur at sea (Fan et al, 2020; Trucco et al, 2008). Contextual and episodic levels of control were associated, respectively, with bilateral activation of caudal (BA44/45) and rostral (BA46) regions of the lateral prefrontal cortex (LPC) This model was further developed by Koechlin and colleagues (Domenech & Koechlin, 2015; Koechlin & Summerfield, 2007), who proposed two methods of arbitration for executive control: (a) a peripheral system located in the premotor/caudal/orbitofrontal regions for action selection based on perceptual cues and reward values that are stable and (b) a core system incorporating regions of the ventromedial, dorsomedial, lateral, and polar PFC that adjust between exploitation/ adjustment of previously learned behavioral sets and exploration/ creation of a new behavioral set. This requirement to regularly report the position of the vessel was designed to increase mental workload and activation of the PFC, and degrade performance outcomes (i.e., spot and respond to target vessel at a lower distance)
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