An improved understanding of how the brain allocates mental resources as a function of task difficulty is critical for enhancing human performance. Functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a field-deployable optical brain monitoring technology that provides a direct measure of cerebral blood flow in response to cognitive activity. We found that fNIRS was sensitive to variations in task difficulty in both real-life (flight simulator) and laboratory settings (tests measuring executive functions), showing increased concentration of oxygenated hemoglobin (HbO2) and decreased concentration of deoxygenated hemoglobin (HHb) in the prefrontal cortex as the tasks became more complex. Intensity of prefrontal activation (HbO2 concentration) was not clearly correlated to task performance. Rather, activation intensity shed insight on the level of mental effort, i.e., how hard an individual was working to accomplish a task. When combined with performance, fNIRS provided an estimate of the participants’ neural efficiency, and this efficiency was consistent across levels of difficulty of the same task. Overall, our data support the suitability of fNIRS to assess the mental effort related to human operations and represents a promising tool for the measurement of neural efficiency in other contexts such as training programs or the clinical setting.

The effects of aging on cognitive performance must be better understood, especially to protect older individuals who are engaged in risky activities (e.g. aviation). Current literature on executive functions suggests that brain compensatory mechanisms may counter cognitive deterioration due to aging, at least up to certain task load levels. The present study assesses this hypothesis in private pilots engaged in two executive tasks from the standardized CANTAB battery, namely Spatial Working Memory (SWM) and One Touch Stockings of Cambridge (OTS). Sixty-one pilots from three age groups (young, middle-aged, older) performed these two tasks from low to very high difficulty levels, beyond those reported in previous aging studies. A fNIRS headband measured changes in oxyhemoglobin (HbO2) in the prefrontal cortex. Results confirmed an overall effect of the difficulty level in the three age groups, with a decline in task performance and an increase in prefrontal HbO2 signal. Performance of older relative to younger pilots was impaired in both tasks, with the greatest impairment observed for the highest-load Spatial Working Memory task. Consistent with this behavioral deficit in older pilots, a plateau of prefrontal activity was observed at this highest-load level, suggesting that a ceiling in neural resources was reached. When behavioral performance was either equivalent between age groups or only slightly impaired in the older group, there were not any age-related differences in prefrontal activity. Finally, older pilots with extensive flying experience tend to show better preserved spatial working memory performance when compared to mildly-experienced of the same age group. The present findings are discussed in the frames of HAROLD and CRUNCH theoretical models of cognitive and neural aging, evoking the possibility that piloting expertise may contribute to preserve executive functions throughout adulthood.

In general aviation, 85% of the crashes seem to be caused by pilots' errors ( Li, Baker, Grabowski, & Rebok, 2001 Li, G. , Baker, S. , Grabowski, J. and Rebok, G. 2001. Factors associated with pilot error in aviation crashes. Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine, 72: 52 [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] [Google Scholar] ) and 46% of the crashes occur at airports ( Li & Baker, 1999 Li, G. and Baker, S. 1999. Correlates of pilot fatality in general aviation crashes. Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine, 70: 305 [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] [Google Scholar] ). It is important to determine if the same factors influence the flying performance and the landing decision making and to uncover which factors, among the pilot's cognitive status, personality traits, and experience, are the most predictive. We examined in 24 general aviation pilots the relationship between those factors and the flying performance and weather-related decision-making relevance. The cognitive assessment encompassed the three basic executive functions ( Miyake et al., 2000 Miyake, A. , Friedman, N. P. , Emerson, M. J. , Witzki, A. H. , Howerter, A. and Wager, T. D. 2000. The unity and diversity of executive functions and their contributions to complex “frontal lobe” tasks: A latent variable analysis. Cognitive Psychology, 41(1): 49–100. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] [Google Scholar] ), reasoning, and psychomotor velocity. The personal characteristics were age, flight experience, and level of impulsivity. Reasoning, updating in working memory, and flight experience were predictive of the flight performance. In addition, updating in working memory, flight experience, and level of impulsivity were linked with weather-related decision-making relevance.

Commercial aviation is currently one of the safest modes of transportation; however, human error is still one major contributing cause of aeronautical accidents and incidents. One promising avenue to further enhance flight safety is Neuroergonomics, an approach at the intersection of neuroscience, cognitive engineering and human factors, which aims to create better human–system interaction. Eye-tracking technology allows users to “monitor the monitoring” by providing insights into both pilots’ attentional distribution and underlying decisional processes. In this position paper, we identify and define a framework of four stages of step-by-step integration of eye-tracking systems in modern cockpits. Stage I concerns Pilot Training and Flight Performance Analysis on-ground; stage II proposes On-board Gaze Recordings as extra data for the “black box” recorders; stage III describes Gaze-Based Flight Deck Adaptation including warning and alerting systems, and, eventually, stage IV prophesies Gaze-Based Aircraft Adaptation including authority taking by the aircraft. We illustrate the potential of these four steps with a description of incidents or accidents that we could certainly have avoided thanks to eye-tracking. Estimated milestones for the integration of each stage are also proposed together with a list of some implementation limitations. We believe that the research institutions and industrial actors of the domain will all benefit from the integration of the framework of the eye-tracking systems into cockpits.