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Neuroergonomics: The brain in action and at work

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... This could be realized by technological means like digital assistance systems [21], by better presentation of information [22], or by explicitly using different modalities of information processing and resource pools (visual, auditory [8]). Modern cognitive and even neurocognitive ergonomics [23,24] not only offer a lot of inspirations for a better design of assembly tasks, but also for a better human-machine interaction. A favoured solution are adaptive and context-dependent human-computer systems which allow flexible task allocations and an adaptation to the workload of the individual operator. ...
... It seems to be relatively easy to further improve external objective measures that represent the stimulus or response side in the traditional behaviorist sense. Even eye tracking remains more attached to this external reality than, for example, the EEG which captures internal organismic processes in the brain and really shows with some delay "the brain at work" [24]. However, we are probably still a long way from being able to objectively and directly grasp recognition and selection processes on the neurophysiological level (which Parasuraman [24] wishes to). ...
... Even eye tracking remains more attached to this external reality than, for example, the EEG which captures internal organismic processes in the brain and really shows with some delay "the brain at work" [24]. However, we are probably still a long way from being able to objectively and directly grasp recognition and selection processes on the neurophysiological level (which Parasuraman [24] wishes to). To measure the semantic content of brain processes by physiological procedures seems to be impossible [65]. ...
Chapter
Mass customization implies an increase of product variants, complexity, and information processing of operators. Generally it is supposed that this leads to an increase of mental workload. Using a real-work-like laboratory setting, subjects should complete tasks of increasing complexity while mental workload is obtained using various parameters (subjective, performance related, and physiological). Additionally subjects are confronted with two levels of industrial noise which will increase mental workload on top of complexity. Results indicate that there is a significant influence of complexity and the interaction of complexity and noise on mental workload. Further physiological reaction patterns (electrocardiographic and eye tracking data) to process parts with higher informational load are investigated and concurrent patterns for pupillary response, fixation duration, and heart rate variability can be shown.
... Neuroergonomics is an emerging, interdisciplinary area of research whose purpose is to enhance knowledge of brain activity, function, and human behavior as encountered at work and in natural settings (Parasuraman, Christensen, & Grafton, 2012). ...
... A premise of this multidisciplinary approach is that knowledge in the psychological sciences will be enhanced. Neuroergonomics: The Brain at Work (Parasuraman and Rizzo, 2008) indicated this composite exploration is growing and is being fueled by the emergence of information-saturated information display (ID) technology that is now being used by humans for activities requiring divided attention and multitasking (Parasuraman, Christensen, & Grafton, 2012). Neuroergonomics provides a novel approach as a contemporary perspective in science, with human situation awareness (SA) research as an integral part (Lees, et al., 2010;Parasuraman et al., 2012;Parasuraman & Rizzo, 2008;Parasuraman, Sheridan, & Wickens, 2008;Parasuraman & Wilson, 2008;Wilson, Estepp, & Davis, 2009). ...
... Neuroergonomics: The Brain at Work (Parasuraman and Rizzo, 2008) indicated this composite exploration is growing and is being fueled by the emergence of information-saturated information display (ID) technology that is now being used by humans for activities requiring divided attention and multitasking (Parasuraman, Christensen, & Grafton, 2012). Neuroergonomics provides a novel approach as a contemporary perspective in science, with human situation awareness (SA) research as an integral part (Lees, et al., 2010;Parasuraman et al., 2012;Parasuraman & Rizzo, 2008;Parasuraman, Sheridan, & Wickens, 2008;Parasuraman & Wilson, 2008;Wilson, Estepp, & Davis, 2009). This work adopted a neuroergonomic approach, as will be discussed in detail later. ...
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Situation awareness (SA) is the psychological ability and capacity to perceive information and act on it acceptably. This ability is central to human behavior. Existing theoretical models explain many aspects of SA; however, knowledge about its development out of basic perceptual abilities was insufficient. This quantitative research examined basic neurocognitive factors in order to identify their specific contributions to the formation of SA, to address this fundamental discontinuity in theory. Piloting was the chosen task. Visual attentiveness (Va), perceptiveness (Vp), and spatial working memory (Vswm) were assessed as predictors of SA under varying task difficulty. Factorial and repeated-measures ANOVAs, Pearson correlation, and linear multiple regression modeling were used to determine the effects of these independent variables on the dependent variable SA and the interactions. The study participants were 19 C-27J pilots, selected from the Ohio Air National Guard. Neurocognitive tests were administered to the participants prior to flight. In-flight SA was objectively and subjectively assessed for 24 flights. At the completion of this field experiment, the data were analyzed and the tests were statistically significant for the three predictor visual abilities Vp, Va, and Vswm as task difficulty was varied, F(3,11) = 8.125, p = .008. In addition, multiple regression analyses revealed that the visual abilities together predicted a majority of the variance in SA, R2 = 0.753, p = .008. Moreover, the Pearson correlation results indicated that Vp (r[12] = -0.816, p = .002) had the strongest relationship of the three neurocognitive factors for the overall flight. Post-hoc tests revealed a Cohen’s yielding statistical power to be 0.98. This indicates that possessing the ability to have a perceptivity, to be insightful, and to have discernment, is most important. During high task difficulty Va (r[12] = -0.583, p = .046) had the strongest correlation with SA, while during low task difficulty it was Vswm (r[12] = -0.634, p = .026). This work results in a significant contribution to the field by providing an improved understanding of SA, an Enhanced-Theoretical Model of SA, and potentially safer travel for society worldwide. It is recommended research be extended to other populations.
... By utilizing combined approaches, hybrid methods, and domain expertise/knowledgebase, to investigate uncharted scientific territories, neuroergonomics is posed to contribute to each of these fields. Neuroergonomics has the potential to advance our overall understanding of brain with practical implications in diverse sectors such as healthcare, education, transportation, manufacturing, entertainment, communication and everyday life at large (Parasuraman, 2003(Parasuraman, , 2011Parasuraman and Rizzo, 2007;Parasuraman et al., 2012;McKendrick et al., 2015;Ayaz and Dehais, 2019). ...
... To meet this challenge, neuroergonomics has forged its own mobile cutting-edge tools benefiting from the technological advances in highly portable brain imaging, signal processing, artificial intelligence and increased computational power. Within the last decade, this emerging discipline has demonstrated potential to advances our understanding of brain with practical applications in diverse sectors such as medicine, education/training, aviation, automotive, manufacturing, administration, entertainment, communication and everyday life at large (Parasuraman, 2011;Parasuraman et al., 2012;McKendrick et al., 2015;Gramann et al., 2017;Ayaz and Dehais, 2019). Neuroergonomics has now bloomed and grown to several branches such as cognitive, physical, social, consumer, clinical, augmented & synthetic, and neurotechnology & system neuroergonomics (see Figure 1) to reach new heights in the understanding of our brain at work and in everyday life situation. ...
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The understanding of the brain functioning in the real world is the next frontier: discovering its operational principles, architectural design, and internal mechanisms are attributed as a significant opportunity to advance human civilization (National Academy of Engineering, 2008). How low-level brain processes translate into cognition is one of the greatest unsolved questions. Although science and engineering enabled our understanding of subatomic particles, the formation of solar systems, and the molecular building blocks of nerve cells, it has yet to explain how consciousness and natural intelligence emerge from the electrical and chemical activity of neurons. We need new technologies and novel approaches to study and understand the brain in the wild. Driven by the national and international grand funding programs such as the BRAIN initiative and Europe's Human Brain Project, it is expected that our understanding of the human brain function and the tools to record and alter brain activity and treat brain diseases will be revolutionized in the upcoming decades (National Institutes of Health, 2014). Existing studies with traditional approaches have accumulated overwhelming knowledge but are limited in scope, i.e., only in artificial lab settings and with simplified tasks. Hence, accurate measurement and precise modulation of the brain activity in a diverse array of everyday tasks is an urgent and needed capability to move neuroengineering and neuroscience to the next level: that is to enable practical clinical and translational research that will form the basis of an entirely new industry of neurotechnologies. As an interdisciplinary new field, neuroergonomics aims to fill this gap: Understanding the brain in the wild, its activity during unrestricted real-world tasks in everyday life contexts, and its relationship to action, behavior, body, and environment.
... Many of these applications fall into two broad disciplines: Neuroergonomics and Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs). Neuroergonomics examines the neural and cognitive mechanisms underpinning human performance in everyday tasks and in the work place (Parasuraman, 2003;Parasuraman and Rizzo, 2007) and uses such knowledge to design systems that allow humans to perform in a safer and more efficient way. BCIs, instead, have traditionally been more concerned with providing means to compensate for absent or lost functionality in people with severe motor disabilities (Wolpaw et al., 2002;Birbaumer, 2006), allowing them, for example, to control devices such as wheelchairs or computer cursors, or to communicate, when the natural way of communicating is severely lost (Wolpaw et al., 1991;Pfurtscheller et al., 1993;Chapin et al., 1999;Mason and Birch, 2000;Fabiani et al., 2004;Millán et al., 2004;Citi et al., 2008;Huang et al., 2009;Allison et al., 2012a;Yin et al., 2013;Sellers et al., 2014). ...
... Changes in patterns of EEG activity that accompany the awake-sleep transition can also reveal decreases in attention (see Oken et al., 2006). The most consistent of such measures are an increased theta activity and decreased beta activity (Belyavin and Wright, 1987;Parasuraman and Rizzo, 2007). The amplitude of the P300 ERP is also known to be related to the mental workload and the level of attention devoted to a task. ...
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Recent advances in neuroscience have paved the way to innovative applications that cognitively augment and enhance humans in a variety of contexts. This paper aims at providing a snapshot of the current state of the art and a motivated forecast of the most likely developments in the next two decades. Firstly, we survey the main neuroscience technologies for both observing and influencing brain activity, which are necessary ingredients for human cognitive augmentation. We also compare and contrast such technologies, as their individual characteristics (e.g., spatio-temporal resolution, invasiveness, portability, energy requirements, and cost) influence their current and future role in human cognitive augmentation. Secondly, we chart the state of the art on neurotechnologies for human cognitive augmentation, keeping an eye both on the applications that already exist and those that are emerging or are likely to emerge in the next two decades. Particularly, we consider applications in the areas of communication, cognitive enhancement, memory, attention monitoring/enhancement, situation awareness and complex problem solving, and we look at what fraction of the population might benefit from such technologies and at the demands they impose in terms of user training. Thirdly, we briefly review the ethical issues associated with current neuroscience technologies. These are important because they may differentially influence both present and future research on (and adoption of) neurotechnologies for human cognitive augmentation: an inferior technology with no significant ethical issues may thrive while a superior technology causing widespread ethical concerns may end up being outlawed. Finally, based on the lessons learned in our analysis, using past trends and considering other related forecasts, we attempt to forecast the most likely future developments of neuroscience technology for human cognitive augmentation and provide informed recommendations for promising future research and exploitation avenues.
... The importance of studying the human brain processes while executing everyday complex tasks in naturalistic environments was pinpointed by Parasuraman (2003), through a new direction in human factors and ergonomics (HF/E) research. This novel direction was tentatively named neuroergonomics (Parasuraman, 2003;Parasuraman and Rizzo, 2006;Parasuraman, 2011). Although Parasuraman and Wilson (2008) modestly stated that neuroergonomics should not be thought of as revolutionary, but rather as another step in HFE research, the growing body of neuroergonomics research refutes this statement. ...
... This could even lead to the application of passive brain-computer interfaces, which could be used for real-time assessment of the cognitive user states in industrial environments (Zander and Kothe, 2011). Nevertheless, the fact that it is nowadays possible to investigate brain dynamics during natural movements (without imposing movements constraints) of the recorded individual brings us a step closer to the guiding principle of the neuroergonomics, that is, to investigate how the brain carries out the complex tasks of everyday life and not just simplified and artificial tasks in the laboratory settings (Parasuraman and Rizzo, 2006). ...
Article
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The majority of neuroergonomics studies are focused mainly on investigating the interaction between operators and automated systems. Far less attention has been dedicated to the investigation of brain processes in more traditional workplaces, such as manual assembly, which are still ubiquitous in industry. The present study investigates whether assembly workers’ attention can be enhanced if they are instructed with which hand to initiate the assembly operation, as opposed to the case when they can commence the operation with whichever hand they prefer. For this aim, we replicated a specific workplace, where 17 participants in the study simulated a manual assembly operation of the rubber hoses that are used in vehicle hydraulic brake systems, while wearing wireless electroencephalography (EEG). The specific EEG feature of interest for this study was the P300 components’ amplitude of the event-related potential (ERP), as it has previously been shown that it is positively related to human attention. The behavioral attention-related modality of reaction times (RTs) was also recorded. Participants were presented with two distinct tasks during the simulated operation, which were counterbalanced across participants. In the first task, digits were used as indicators for the operation initiation (Numbers task), where participants could freely choose with which hand they would commence the action upon seeing the digit. In the second task, participants were presented with arrows, which served as instructed operation initiators (Arrows task), and they were instructed to start each operation with the hand that corresponded to the arrow direction. The results of this study showed that the P300 amplitude was significantly higher in the instructed condition. Interestingly, the RTs did not differ across any task conditions. This, together with the other findings of this study, suggests that attention levels can be increased using instructed responses without compromising work performance or operators’ well-being, paving the way for future applications in manual assembly task design.
... The prefrontal cortex, and specifically the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex or Brodmann area 46 (DLPFC, BA 46), is identified as a brain region of key interest in the current context of visual fatigue for the obvious reason of its accessibility to NIRS (as opposed to deeper brain regions), but more importantly because of its properties underlying a role in cognitive control, its role in the motor planning and execution of movement, its involvement in the allocation and coordination of attentional resources, and its role in processing discomfort and pain. Reviews introducing the field of neuroergonomics (Ayaz et al., 2013; Mandrick et al., 2013; Mehta & Parasuraman, 2013; Parasuraman, Christensen, & Grafton, 2012), providing technical details of the NIRS methodology (Ferrari and Quaresima, 2012; Derosiere et al., 2013; Strangman, Li, & Zhang, 2013), and highlighting functions of the prefrontal cortex function (Hoshi, 2013; Miller & Cohen, 2001; Ptak, 2012) are presented elsewhere; these provide a fundamental background to appreciate our research approach, i.e., eye-neck/shoulder interactions during visually demanding near work. ...
... Our study strongly supports NIRS as a useful research tool to measure prefrontal cortex activity during visually demanding near work. The central premise of neuroergonomics is that " …human factors research and practice can be enriched by consideration of theories and results from neuroscience… " (Parasuraman et al., 2012). Similarly, a pertinent long-term research aim of the new visual neuroergonomic research agenda outlined here, is to deliver novel information about the extent to which both young and old brains work to meet contemporary visual physical/mental work demands. ...
Article
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Information technology (IT) has increased and changed the load for individuals in the workplace. Small displays and small text size on many IT applications lead to reduced viewing distances and poorer postures, with increasing biomechanical and oculomotor loads as results. Mental stress related to the high amount of information received and processed also contributes to an increased level of activity in the neck/shoulder/arm muscles. Demographic trends also mean that the proportion of older workers who regularly perform visually demanding work has increased. An often overlooked factor in this context is the relationship between a well-functioning visual system and the normal functions of the neck/shoulder area. When the visual system’s muscles and sensory and/or perceptual functions are subjected to high levels of load past the level the eyes are evolutionarily adapted to cope with, muscle tension, aches, and pains occur in the neck/shoulders. However, the underlying brain mechanisms behind the links between contemporary vision requirements and neck/shoulder motor function have not been elucidated. Unlike the usual skeletal muscles, ciliary muscles responsible for focusing the crystalline eye lens and extraocular muscles responsible for convergence eye movements appear resistant to fatigue. Increased activity in the trapezius muscle in connection with visually demanding near work can be assumed to be related to pre-motor control and to suppression or inhibition of mental fatigue as a means of maintaining sufficiently high visual quality. The dual goals of this article are to briefly outline the current evidence that suggests that probing into blood flow and hemodynamic prefrontal brain activity with Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) could advance progress in visual ergonomic research, and to provide study data exemplifying the proposed approach.
... Neuroergonomics investigates the neural bases of mental and physical functions, in applied settings, such as work, transportation, and health care (Parasuraman et al., 2012). It is defined as the study of human brain function in relation to work, together with technology (Parasuraman, 2003). ...
Article
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In this work, we aimed at affirming the inherent complexity of learning processes and the consequent benefits derived from a multi-layer cascade approach that considers heterogeneous disciplines and furnishing actionable best practices, for the designing of a learning experience in an organization. Since disciplines, at different scales, bring together heterogeneous knowledge, we advocate for an integration of them. The various types of learning (i.e., non-associative, associative, perceptual, and motor) can be explored to understand the development, storage, and recall of memories, using molecular, cellular, and systems data. What is the impact of technology on the learning process? We propose the consideration of different sources of data to answer this question. Further, we propose to consider seven recommendations which should be addressed when designing a learning experience.
... A continuous increase in mental effort for visual attention leads to mental fatigue [57]. In this condition, the oxyhemoglobin concentration in the prefrontal cortex increases to deal with mental fatigue [58]. On the other hand, sports activities accelerate blood circulation in tissues, especially brain tissues, which provides more oxygen and causes less perceived fatigue. ...
Article
Purpose: This study aims to investigate whether mento-physical exercises can decrease mental fatigue during shift work.‏. Methods: Research subjects including the control-room staff of an urban-train system were chosen randomly, for whom mental fatigue was assessed before and after rest-breaks for control and experimental groups. A new protocol was applied in the experimental group, including breathing exercises, isometric and isotonic exercises, and progressive relaxation during the inter-shift break. A designed questionnaire and the Stroop test were used to evaluate fatigue and reaction time, respectively. Results: Pre and post-test results showed that mental, visual, and physical fatigue and reaction time decreased by 14.48%, 49.22%, 26.85%, and 8.35% in the control group and 36.42%, 48.48%, 76.37%, and 20.56% in the experimental group, respectively. Conclusions: At 5% α level, the Student's t test showed that mento-physical exercises effectively decreased mental and physical fatigue as well as reaction time in the experimental group compared to the control group.
... The augmentation of human performance and its transfer to enhanced functioning at work or in everyday settings via the alteration of underlying neurocognitive processes are a major aim of neuroergonomics (Parasuraman, 2011;Parasuraman, Christensen, & Grafton, 2012). The performance of complex cognitive tasks requires extensive use of capacity-limited executive processes, especially attention and working memory. ...
Chapter
Recent advances in neuroscience and engineering have allowed increasingly accessible, mobile, and wearable neurotechnologies that can record or alter human brain activity in natural everyday settings. Following significant conceptual and methodological improvements within the last decades, portable neuroimaging sensors are now widely adopted to study the neural mechanisms underlying human perceptual, cognitive, and motor functioning with a focus on real-world contexts. Similarly, non-invasive neurostimulation have led to a proliferation of research on brain and its enhancement, both in patients with neurological or psychiatric diseases, as well as healthy individuals for augmented cognition. Neuroergonomics, as an interdisciplinary emerging field, utilizes these tools and diverse methods to investigate the human brain function and its relation to everyday behavior. Neuroergonomic design principles and applications are poised to eventually be an integral part of the way we communicate, learn, work, and play.
... That is, we are taking under consideration the combination of brain function and user performance to evaluate the use of sensory substitution to represent images with an auditory display. By taking the "neuroergonomics approach" (Parasuraman et al., 2012), we would use such understanding of the underlying cognitive characteristics of sensory substitution with respect to hemispheric lateralization to develop more useable and accessible devices for the end user. ...
Article
Visual-to-auditory sensory substitution devices (SSDs) provide improved access to the visual environment for the visually impaired by converting images into auditory information. Research is lacking on the mechanisms involved in processing data that is perceived through one sensory modality, but directly associated with a source in a different sensory modality. This is important because SSDs that use auditory displays could involve binaural presentation requiring both ear canals, or monaural presentation requiring only one-but which ear would be ideal? SSDs may be similar to reading, as an image (printed word) is converted into sound (when read aloud). Reading, and language more generally, are typically lateralised to the left cerebral hemisphere. Yet, unlike symbolic written language, SSDs convert images to sound based on visuospatial properties, with the right ce-rebral hemisphere potentially having a role in processing such visuospatial data. Here we investigated whether there is a hemispheric bias in the processing of visual-to-auditory sensory substitution information and whether that varies as a function of experience and visual ability. We assessed the lateralization of auditory processing with two tests: a standard dichotic listening test and a novel dichotic listening test created using the auditory information produced by an SSD, The vOICe. Participants were tested either in the lab or online with the same stimuli. We did not find a hemispheric bias in the processing of visual-to-auditory information in visually impaired, experienced vOICe users. Further, we did not find any difference between visually impaired, experienced vOICe users and sighted novices in the hemispheric lateralization of visual-to-auditory information processing. Although standard dichotic listening is lateralised to the left hemisphere, the auditory processing of images in SSDs is bilateral, possibly due to the increased influence of right hemisphere processing. Auditory SSDs might therefore be equally effective with presentation to either ear if a monaural, rather than binaural, presentation were necessary.
... Understanding the neural underpinnings of complex cognitive tasks in the context of safety-critical settings is a key objective for neuroergonomics research (Parasuraman, 2011;Parasuraman et al., 2012;Mehta and Parasuraman, 2013). Operators' effective utilization of human-machine interfaces in such settings depends on interface design considerations, as well as the operators' level of expertise in carrying out key tasks via the interface. ...
Article
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Recent advances in neuroimaging technologies have rendered multimodal analysis of operators’ cognitive processes in complex task settings and environments increasingly more practical. In this exploratory study, we utilized optical brain imaging and mobile eye tracking technologies to investigate the behavioral and neurophysiological differences among expert and novice operators while they operated a human-machine interface in normal and adverse conditions. In congruence with related work, we observed that experts tended to have lower prefrontal oxygenation and exhibit gaze patterns that are better aligned with the optimal task sequence with shorter fixation durations as compared to novices. These trends reached statistical significance only in the adverse condition where the operators were prompted with an unexpected error message. Comparisons between hemodynamic and gaze measures before and after the error message indicated that experts’ neurophysiological response to the error involved a systematic increase in bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) activity accompanied with an increase in fixation durations, which suggests a shift in their attentional state, possibly from routine process execution to problem detection and resolution. The novices’ response was not as strong as that of experts, including a slight increase only in the left dlPFC with a decreasing trend in fixation durations, which is indicative of visual search behavior for possible cues to make sense of the unanticipated situation. A linear discriminant analysis model capitalizing on the covariance structure among hemodynamic and eye movement measures could distinguish experts from novices with 91% accuracy. Despite the small sample size, the performance of the linear discriminant analysis combining eye fixation and dorsolateral oxygenation measures before and after an unexpected event suggests that multimodal approaches may be fruitful for distinguishing novice and expert performance in similar neuroergonomic applications in the field.
... Understanding the neural underpinnings of complex cognitive tasks in the context of safety-critical settings is a key objective for neuroergonomics research (Parasuraman, 2011;Parasuraman et al., 2012;Mehta and Parasuraman, 2013). Operators' effective utilization of human-machine interfaces in such settings depends on interface design considerations, as well as the operators' level of expertise in carrying out key tasks via the interface. ...
... The neural correlates of mental workload have been well studied, including in neuroergonomic contexts allowing for more realistic experiments that are applicable outside of a laboratory setting [1,17,34]. Out of the available modalities, electroencephalography (EEG) and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) paint a complementary and comprehensive picture of cortical brain activity for multimodal studies [18,19]. EEG records fast brain signals of the electrophysiological activity of neurons, but lacks high spatial resolution due to the dispersion of those signals. ...
Chapter
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The result of training to improve in a given skill is most often demonstrated by an increase in the relevant performance measures. However, a complementary and at times more informative measure is the mental workload imposed on the performer when doing the task. While a number of varied methods exist for measuring workload, we have chosen to explore physiological and neurological correlates for their low amount of impact and interference on subjects during an experiment. In this study, participants trained on a six-task cognitive battery over four weeks while being simultaneously recorded with remote eye tracking and a host of other neurophysiological instruments. In this preliminary analysis, we found that measures of saccades, fixations, and pupil diameters significantly correlated with task performance over time and at different difficulties, indicating the validity of our task battery as well as the specificity of workload-related eye tracking measures.
... Measuring CW is complex as it represents the interplay between the environmental demands (input), human characteristics (capacities), and task performance (output) on the operator [22,23]. The association between CW and physical workload is an essential component of physical neuroergonomics, the study of the brain in relation to the control and design of physical tasks incorporating evaluations of brain and body measurements in natural environments as opposed to artificial laboratory settings and simplified tasks [24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32]. ...
Chapter
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The wheelchair is a key invention that provides individuals with limitations in mobility increased independence and participation in society. However, wheelchair control is a complicated motor task that increases physical and mental workload. New wheelchair interfaces, including power-assisted devices can further enable users by reducing the required effort especially in more demanding environments. The protocol engaged novice wheelchair users to push a wheelchair with and without power assist in a simple and complex environment using wireless Electrocardiogram (ECG) to approximate heart rate (HR). Results indicated that HR determined from ECG data, decreased with use of the power-assist. The use of power-assist however did reduce behavioral performance, particularly within obstacles that required more control.
... More research in this area needs to be accomplished, blending ergonomics, optics, and cognitive neuroscience in the actual aircraft in-flight. Neuroergonomics is a new field that integrates research between psychology, cognitive neuroscience, engineering, and ergonomics (Parasuraman, Christensen, & Grafton, 2011). The effects of varying spatial locations of information displays (ID) in addition to individual differences in visual perception and attention coupled with the effects on pilot WL and SA should be researched next (Harbour, Christensen, Estepp, & Gray, in press;Tsang & Vidulich, 2006;Wickens & McCarley, 2008). ...
Article
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The retrofitting of a cockpit with a Head-Up-Display (HUD) raises potential accommodation and perceptual issues for pilots that must be addressed. For maximum optical efficiency, the goal is to be able to place every pilot’s eye into the HUD Eye Motion Box (EMB) given a seat adjustment range. Initially, the Eye Reference Point (ERP) of the EMB should theoretically be located on the aircraft’s original cockpit Design Eye Point (DEP) while horizontal and vertical seat adjustment would allow pilots to position their eyes inside the EMB. However, human postures vary, and HUD systems may not be optimally placed. In reality there is a distribution of pilot eyes around the DEP (which is dominant eye dependent) therefore this must be accounted for in order to obtain appropriate visibility of all of the symbology based on photonic characteristics of the HUD. Pilot size and postural variation need to be taken into consideration when positioning the HUD system to ensure proper vision of all HUD symbology in addition to meeting the basic physical accommodation requirements of the cockpit. The innovative process and data collection methods for maximizing accommodation and pilot perception on a new “tactical airlift” platform are discussed as well as the related neurocognitive factors and the effects of information display design on cognitive phenomena.
... Their common goal is the generation of electrical fields localized in different brain regions, with a spatial resolution in the order of a few centimeters [7,8]. Such poor resolution results in non-specific stimulation of the brain regions surrounding the target area [9]. ...
Article
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Objective. We aim to develop a novel non-invasive or minimally invasive method for neural stimulation to be applied in the study and treatment of brain (dys)functions and neurological disorders. Approach. We investigate the electrophysiological response of in vitro neuronal networks when subjected to low-intensity pulsed acoustic stimulation, mediated by piezoelectric nanoparticles adsorbed on the neuronal membrane. Main results. We show that the presence of piezoelectric barium titanate nanoparticles induces, in a reproducible way, an increase in network activity when excited by stationary ultrasound waves in the MHz regime. Such a response can be fully recovered when switching the ultrasound pulse off, depending on the generated pressure field amplitude, whilst it is insensitive to the duration of the ultrasound pulse in the range 0.5 s–1.5 s. We demonstrate that the presence of piezoelectric nanoparticles is necessary, and when applying the same acoustic stimulation to neuronal cultures without nanoparticles or with non-piezoelectric nanoparticles with the same size distribution, no network response is observed. Significance. We believe that our results open up an extremely interesting approach when coupled with suitable functionalization strategies of the nanoparticles in order to address specific neurons and/or brain areas and applied in vivo, thus enabling remote, non-invasive, and highly selective modulation of the activity of neuronal subpopulations of the central nervous system of mammalians.
... Parasuraman (2007) first put forward the "Neuroergonomics" which is a science researching human brain and behavior at work. It links research with practices, combining neuroscience and ergonomics (or human factor) to exert the greatest advantages of the two disciplines (Parasuraman & Rizzo, 2007;Parasuraman, Christensen, & Grafton, 2012). So far, the researches on human factor mainly concentrate on physiologic level, cognitive level and organizational level. ...
Article
Safety education is a kind of effective means by which people can improve safety consciousness, can master the safety theory, regulations and technology standard.The most important reason of work-safety accident is human factor and the level of safety behaviors and emergency capability of production people is the focus of human factors. From the cognitive perspective, the article analyzes the pre-attentive processing features of human under the industrial auto-control background through people's information processing. Therefore article propose a cognitive neural experiment approach based HCI. Article used the auto-control interface of the towing vessels of ocean engineering vessels to simulate that of the real operating room. The figures on the central interface presented that the regular winding drum speed of the towing machine was 7.5m/min and the graphic symbols on the both sides of the interface presented the system pressure safety alerting signals of the towing machine. Normally, the safety alerting signals on the two sides of the interface were green rectangles, but abnormally they would be red vertical rectangles, red horizontal rectangles or red hexagons. Namely, the task-related stimuli appeared in the center of people's view but the task-unrelated stimuli appeared on the sides. The subjects were informed to concentrate on the winding drum speed on the center of the interface and ignore the pressure safety alerting signals on the sides. If the winding drum speed changes, the subjects should react as soon as possible. The experiment adopted Oddball and Equiprobable paradigms, using Event-related Potential (ERP) technology to verify. The results show that all of the 3 kinds of safety alerting signals can cause Visual Mismatch Negativity (vMMN) negative wave but the strength values are different. The pressure safety alerting signals of red horizontal rectangle are easier to cause the operator's attention.
... Accurate assessment of mental workload could help in preventing operator error and allow for pertinent intervention by predicting performance decline that can arise from either work overload or understimulation [1][2][3]. The augmentation of complex human-machine team performance and its transfer to improved functioning at work or in everyday settings via alteration of the operator's underlying neurocognitive processes is a prime goal of neuroergonomics [4,5]. Practice-based repetitive exposure of operator to cognitive task is common and one potential method for enhancement of such neurocognitive capacity. ...
Conference Paper
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Learning of complex skills can be enhanced if the training can adapt to the learner. Earlier studies utilized behavioral performance based adaptation; however, behavioral performance assessment is limited and does not take into account the mental effort and the brain plasticity changes during the acquisition of complex skills. In this study, we utilized objective brain based measures for the assessment and adaptation of a four-day training program with three piloting tasks on four participants using a low fidelity flight simulator. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) from prefrontal cortex was measured to adapt the difficulty levels of the training trials of the tasks with the aim of optimizing the cognitive workload. Participants also performed reference practice trials that had the same difficulty across sessions. Preliminary results identified specific brain areas within prefrontal cortex for each reference tasks that corroborates earlier task practice studies. Furthermore, the same brain areas were responsive to the adaptive training trials as well. The results overall suggest task specific brain areas are coupled with the behavioral performance. This study outlines a new neurofeedback based training paradigm using the wearable and portable fNIRS. Future uses of such personalized training could help prevent unnecessary over-training or insufficient under-training.
... Understanding the neural mechanisms that contribute to the acquisition, development, and use of cognitive skills is an important goal for cognitive neuroscience research and for applications of neuroscience to work and everyday activities. Neuroergonomics, defined by late Prof. Raja Parasuraman as studying "the brain at work" [9][10][11][12] is an emerging interdisciplinary research field at the intersection of cognitive neuroscience, systems engineering, human factors, and psychology. By utilizing portable and wearable brain imaging sensors, unique information such as mental workload and state can be captured. ...
Conference Paper
Automated spoken language interfaces have seen a remarkable proliferation in recent years, integrating with automotive, household, industrial, and mobile platforms to shape the way in which we interact with our devices. While the use of an auxiliary auditory information stream has the potential to decrease interference and prevent disengagement from operation of traditional visual/mechanical interfaces, evidence from behavioral and neuroimaging studies have suggested that the brain mechanisms underlying the perception and comprehension of synthetic speech may be different from naturally produced speech, resulting in an unnecessary additional cognitive burden.
... Métodos de neuroimagem têm vindo a melhorar em sua capacidade técnica, sofisticação e amplitude de aplicação ao longo da última década. Estudos de neurociência cognitiva usando esses métodos também têm aumentado em sua complexidade, e tem havido crescente interesse no seu uso para examinar os circuitos neurais que suportam tarefas complexas representante da percepção, cognição e ação à medida que ocorrem em ambientes naturais ( PARASURAMAN, 2012) e quando ocorrem no trabalho, nesse artigo, chamamos de carga mental de trabalho. A carga mental de trabalho é entendida como a interação entre as exigências da tarefa e a capacidade humana de realização. ...
... Physiological data give more insight into the operator's state, especially electroencephalography (EEG), a method that allows for direct mental state assessment. The use of physiological markers derived from the cerebral activity for human factor purposes has given rise to a new field: neuroergonomics (Parasuraman et al., 2012). ...
Article
Full-text available
Mental workload is a mental state that is currently one of the main research focuses in neuroergonomics. It can notably be estimated using measurements in electroencephalography (EEG), a method that allows for direct mental state assessment. Auditory probes can be used to elicit event-related potentials (ERPs) that are modulated by workload. Although, some papers do report ERP modulations due to workload using attended or ignored probes, to our knowledge there is no literature regarding effective workload classification based on ignored auditory probes. In this paper, in order to efficiently estimate workload, we advocate for the use of such ignored auditory probes in a single-stimulus paradigm and a signal processing chain that includes a spatial filtering step. The effectiveness of this approach is demonstrated on data acquired from participants that performed the Multi-Attribute Task Battery – II. They carried out this task during two 10-min blocks. Each block corresponded to a workload condition that was pseudorandomly assigned. The easy condition consisted of two monitoring tasks performed in parallel, and the difficult one consisted of those two tasks with an additional plane driving task. Infrequent auditory probes were presented during the tasks and the participants were asked to ignore them. The EEG data were denoised and the probes’ ERPs were extracted and spatially filtered using a canonical correlation analysis. Next, binary classification was performed using a Fisher LDA and a fivefold cross-validation procedure. Our method allowed for a very high estimation performance with a classification accuracy above 80% for every participant, and minimal intrusiveness thanks to the use of a single-stimulus paradigm. Therefore, this study paves the way to the efficient use of ERPs for mental state monitoring in close to real-life settings and contributes toward the development of adaptive user interfaces.
... Both TMS and tCS fail to provide the spatial resolution required to target brain region of interests (ROIs). They are also unable to stimulate deeper ROIs without stimulating surrounding tissues (Parasuraman, Christensen, & Grafton, 2012). However, recent generation of TMS machines use H-coil, which can focus more precisely than the conventional coils (Muggleton & Walsh, 2012). ...
Article
Brain stimulation techniques are important in both basic and clinical studies. Majority of well-known brain stimulating techniques have low spatial resolution or entail invasive processes. Low intensity focused ultrasound (LIFU) seems to be a proper candidate for dealing with such deficiencies. This review recapitulates studies which explored the effects of LIFU on brain structures and its function, in both research and clinical areas. Although the mechanism of LIFU action is still unclear, its different effects from molecular level up to behavioral level can be explored in animal and human brain. It can also be coupled with brain imaging assessments in future research.
... Gaining a clearer understanding of the neural correlates of facial emotion perception can have important implications for a variety of Neuroergonomic applications and brain computer interface settings [18,[24][25][26]. Such applications range from product usability studies at the design phase, to adaptive systems of complex man-machine interfaces. ...
Conference Paper
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Previous neuroimaging research has implicated the prefrontal cortex (PFC) as a region of the brain that is vital for various aspects of emotion processing. The present study sought to examine the neural correlates of incidental facial emotion encoding, with regard to neutral and fearful faces, within the PFC. Thirty-nine healthy adults were presented briefly with neutral and fearful faces and the evoked hemodynamic oxygenation within the PFC was measured using 16-channel continuous-wave functional near-infrared spectroscopy. When viewing fearful as compared to neutral faces, participants demonstrated higher levels of activation within the right medial PFC. On the other hand, participants demonstrated lower levels of activation within the left medial PFC and left lateral PFC when viewing fearful faces, as compared to neutral faces.These findings are consistent with previous fMRI research, and suggest that fearful faces are linked to a neural response within the right medial PFC, whereas neutral faces appear to elicit a neural response within left medial and lateral areas of the PFC.
... Both TMS and tCS fail to provide the spatial resolution required to target brain region of interests (ROIs). They are also unable to stimulate deeper ROIs without stimulating surrounding tissues (Parasuraman, Christensen, & Grafton, 2012). However, recent generation of TMS machines use H-coil, which can focus more precisely than the conventional coils (Muggleton & Walsh, 2012). ...
Article
Full-text available
Brain stimulation techniques are important in both basic and clinical studies. Majority of well-known brain stimulating techniques have low spatial resolution or entail invasive processes. Low intensity focused ultrasound (LIFU) seems to be a proper candidate for dealing with such deficiencies. This review recapitulates studies which explored the effects of LIFU on brain structures and its function, in both research and clinical areas. Although the mechanism of LIFU action is still unclear, its different effects from molecular level up to behavioral level can be explored in animal and human brain. It can also be coupled with brain imaging assessments in future research.
... Indeed, it possesses numerous human factors applications, ranging from safety (e.g. driving, nuclear plant monitoring), to smart technology development (Fairclough, 2009;Parasuraman et al., 2012). Several mental states are currently under research focus, such as mental fatigue, attention, and affective states. ...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
Working memory load can be estimated using features extracted from the electroencephalogram (EEG). Connectivity measures, that evaluate the interaction between signals, can be used to extract such features and therefore provide information about the interconnection of brain areas and electrode sites. To our knowledge, there is no literature regarding a direct comparison of the relevance of several connectivity measures for working memory load estimation. This study intends to overcome this lack of literature by proposing a direct comparison of four connectivity measures on data extracted from a working memory load experiment performed by 20 participants. These features are extracted using pattern-based or vector-based methods, and classified using an FLDA classifier and a 10-fold cross-validation procedure. The relevance of the connectivity measures was assessed by statistically comparing the obtained classification accuracy. Additional investigations were performed regarding the best set of electrodes and the best frequency band. The main results are that covariance seems to be the best connectivity measure to estimate working memory load from EEG signals, even more so with signals filtered in the beta band. point.
... Neuroergonomics is an emerging field that investigates human mental states and their workloads in order to improve the reliability of human performance, and ensure its stability in various environments (Parasuraman, 2003;Parasuraman and Rizzo, 2008). In neuroergonomics, both the fundamental principles of neuroscience and human factors are considered thoroughly, and neural behaviors have been investigated primarily when people are engaged in tasks in a work environment (Parasuraman and Wilson, 2008). ...
Article
Full-text available
Investigations of the neuro-physiological correlates of mental loads, or states, have attracted significant attention recently, as it is particularly important to evaluate mental fatigue in drivers operating a motor vehicle. In this research, we collected multimodal EEG/ECG/EOG and fNIRS data simultaneously to develop algorithms to explore neuro-physiological correlates of drivers' mental states. Each subject performed simulated driving under two different conditions (well-rested and sleep-deprived) on different days. During the experiment, we used 68 electrodes for EEG/ECG/EOG and 8 channels for fNIRS recordings. We extracted the prominent features of each modality to distinguish between the well-rested and sleep-deprived conditions, and all multimodal features, except EOG, were combined to quantify mental fatigue during driving. Finally, a novel driving condition level (DCL) was proposed that distinguished clearly between the features of well-rested and sleep-deprived conditions. This proposed DCL measure may be applicable to real-time monitoring of the mental states of vehicle drivers. Further, the combination of methods based on each classifier yielded substantial improvements in the classification accuracy between these two conditions.
... Neuroergonomics captures the study of brain behaviour at work with the goal of improving performance, safety and efficiency (Parasuraman et al., 2012; Parasuraman and Rizzo, 2003). This is particularly relevant to fields that warrant operator vigilance, technical skill levels and decision-making such as command control in aviation (Izzetoglu et al., 2004) and surgery (James et al., 2010). ...
Article
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Objective metrics of technical performance (e.g. dexterity, time and path length) are insufficient to fully characterize operator skill level, which may be encoded deep within neural function. Unlike reports that capture plasticity across days or weeks, this paper studies long-term plasticity in functional connectivity that occurs over years of professional task practice. Optical neuroimaging data are acquired from professional surgeons of varying experience on a complex bimanual co-ordination task with the aim of investigating learning-related disparity in frontal lobe functional connectivity that arises as a consequence of motor skill level. The results suggest that prefrontal and premotor seed connectivity is more critical during naïve versus expert performance. Given learning-related differences in connectivity, a least-squares support vector machine with a radial basis function kernel is employed to evaluate skill level using connectivity data. The results demonstrate discrimination of operator skill level with accuracy ≥ 0.82 and Multiclass Mathew's Correlation Coefficient ≥ 0.70. Furthermore, these indices are improved when local (i.e. within-region) rather than inter-regional (i.e. between-region) frontal connectivity is considered (p=0.002). The results suggest that it is possible to classify operator skill level with good accuracy from functional connectivity data, upon which objective assessment and neuro-feedback may be used to improve operator performance during technical skill training.
... Mental state monitoring (MSM) through physiological computing, or neuroergonomics, is an actively growing research field, for it possesses numerous human factor applications, ranging from safety (e.g. car driving, nuclear plant monitoring), to smart technology development (Fairclough 2008, Parasuraman et al 2012. The new tools of neuroergonomics are passive Brain-Computer Interfaces (pBCIs). ...
Article
Full-text available
Objective. Mental workload is frequently estimated by EEG-based mental state monitoring systems. Usually, these systems use spectral markers and event-related potentials (ERPs). To our knowledge, no study has directly compared their performance for mental workload assessment, nor evaluated the stability in time of these markers and of the performance of the associated mental workload estimators. This study proposes a comparison of two processing chains, one based on the power in five frequency bands, and one based on ERPs, both including a spatial filtering step (respectively CSP and CCA), an FLDA classification and a 10-fold cross-validation. Approach. To get closer to a real life implementation, spectral markers were extracted from a short window (i.e. towards reactive systems) that did not include any motor activity and the analyzed ERPs were elicited by a task-independent probe that required a reflex-like answer (i.e. close to the ones required by dead man’s vigilance devices). The data were acquired from 20 participants who performed a Sternberg memory task for 90 min (i.e. 2/6 digits to memorize) inside which a simple detection task was inserted. The results were compared both when the testing was performed at the beginning and end of the session. Main results. Both chains performed significantly better than random; however the one based on the spectral markers had a low performance (60%) and was not stable in time. Conversely, the ERP-based chain gave very high results (91%) and was stable in time. Significance. This study demonstrates that an efficient and stable in time workload estimation can be achieved using task-independent spatially filtered ERPs elicited in a minimally intrusive manner.
... A promising solution to the problem of developing and testing interventions for improving underground workplaces is to incorporate research and innovations from neuroscience (see also Dougherty and Arbib, 2013). Instead of focusing on traditional psychological explanations for human factors issues, neuroergonomics (Parasuraman et al., 2012) emphasises psycho-cognitive and biological explanations and methods to design systems for more efficient operation. Similarly, neuroaesthetics (Skov and Vartanian, 2009) emphasises the biological aspects of the interaction between sensory-motor, emotion-valuation and meaning-knowledge systems. ...
Article
Working in underground spaces appears to be a possible solution for urban areas with lack of space or areas characterised by extremes of temperature. Besides pure engineering questions, it is also critical to understand the relationship between the architectural specificities of underground spaces and human behaviour and performance. Research to date has provided preliminary evidence on this question. Yet, during the last decade, contemporary cognitive neuroscience, experimental psychology and behavioural science have made impressive progress in the measurement, monitoring and understanding of human cognition and behaviour. These novel approaches offer advanced tools to study the human brain, body and mind; other disciplines (economics, political science, ergonomics and, recently, architecture) have successfully adopted these methods. The aim of the present paper is to introduce these concepts to the research community who studies the effects of underground work and offer practical examples of how these methods can be employed to understand crucial problems related to “underground psychology”. These new conceptual tools enable reliable isolation of various cognitive functions in a quantifiable way; identification of individual differences in responses to the environment; uncovering of underlying motivational factors; and establishment of a more mechanistic explanation of human behaviour. Cognitive neuroscience inspired methods offer a new exciting, comprehensive, more objective, and systematic examination of human behaviour in underground spaces and open new possibilities for identification of effective interventional strategies to improve the design of modern underground environments.
... Continuously and objectively monitoring the cognitive workload of ATCs and other operators, with a portable brain-imaging device, such as fNIR, may allow for an increase in safety of air travel and other high-risk activities by ensuring the operator does not become overloaded. Additionally, an accurate objective assessment of cognitive workload may help prevent operator error and allow for appropriate intervention through predicting probable errors that can arise from work overload [22][23][24][25]. An objective workload assessment system, such as fNIR, may prove to be a valuable tool in the validation of the array of FAA's NextGen systems, such as the CRA presented in this paper. ...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
Functional near infrared (fNIR) spectroscopy is a field-deployable optical neuroimaging technology that provides a measure of the prefrontal cortex’s cerebral hemodynamics in response to the completion of sensory, motor, or cognitive tasks. Technologies such as fNIR could provide additional performance metrics directly from brain-based measures to assess safety and performance of operators in high-risk fields. This paper reports a case study utilizing a continuous wave fNIR technology deployed in a real-time air traffic control (ATC) setting to evaluate the cognitive workload of certified professional controllers (CPCs) during the deployment of one of the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA’s) Next Generation (NextGen) technologies.
... Assessment of mental workload directly from the brain with functional neuroimaging techniques has been an active field of research for many years [1]. Monitoring the human operator's workload levels are desirable for preventing under-and overloading that can increase human errors, and hence potentially improve working efficiency by maintaining a balanced workload level. ...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
Simultaneously recorded electroencephalography (EEG) and functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) measures from sixteen subjects were used to assess neural correlates of a letter based n-back working memory task. We found that EEG alpha power increased and prefrontal cortical oxygenation decreased with increased practice time for the high memory load condition (2-back), suggesting lower brain activation and a tendency toward the ‘idle’ state. The cortical oxygenation changes for the low memory load conditions (0-back and 1-back) changed very little throughout the training session which the behavioral scores showed high accuracy and a ceiling effect. No significant effect of practice time were found for theta power or the behavioral performance measures.
Article
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Background: There is a significant need to monitor human cognitive performance in complex environments, with one example being pilot performance. However, existing assessments largely focus on subjective experiences (e.g., questionnaires) and the evaluation of behavior (e.g., aircraft handling) as surrogates for cognition or utilize brainwave measures which require artificial setups (e.g., simultaneous auditory stimuli) that intrude on the primary tasks. Blink-related oscillations (BROs) are a recently discovered neural phenomenon associated with spontaneous blinking that can be captured without artificial setups and are also modulated by cognitive loading and the external sensory environment—making them ideal for brain function assessment within complex operational settings. Methods: Electroencephalography (EEG) data were recorded from eight adult participants (five F, M = 21.1 years) while they completed the Multi-Attribute Task Battery under three different cognitive loading conditions. BRO responses in time and frequency domains were derived from the EEG data, and comparisons of BRO responses across cognitive loading conditions were undertaken. Simultaneously, assessments of blink behavior were also undertaken. Results: Blink behavior assessments revealed decreasing blink rate with increasing cognitive load (p < 0.001). Prototypical BRO responses were successfully captured in all participants (p < 0.001). BRO responses reflected differences in task-induced cognitive loading in both time and frequency domains (p < 0.05). Additionally, reduced pre-blink theta band desynchronization with increasing cognitive load was also observed (p < 0.05). Conclusion: This study confirms the ability of BRO responses to capture cognitive loading effects as well as preparatory pre-blink cognitive processes in anticipation of the upcoming blink during a complex multitasking situation. These successful results suggest that blink-related neural processing could be a potential avenue for cognitive state evaluation in operational settings—both specialized environments such as cockpits, space exploration, military units, etc. and everyday situations such as driving, athletics, human-machine interactions, etc.—where human cognition needs to be seamlessly monitored and optimized.
Article
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There is a gap in our understanding of how best to apply transcranial direct-current stimulation (tDCS) to enhance learning in complex, realistic, and multifocus tasks such as aviation. Our goal is to assess the effects of tDCS and feedback training on task performance, brain activity, and connectivity using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Experienced glider pilots were recruited to perform a one-day, three-run flight-simulator task involving varying difficulty conditions and a secondary auditory task, mimicking real flight requirements. The stimulation group (versus sham) received 1.5 mA high-definition HD-tDCS to the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) for 30 min during the training. Whole-brain fMRI was collected before, during, and after stimulation. Active stimulation improved piloting performance both during and post-training, particularly in novice pilots. The fMRI revealed a number of tDCS-induced effects on brain activation, including an increase in the left cerebellum and bilateral basal ganglia for the most difficult conditions, an increase in DLPFC activation and connectivity to the cerebellum during stimulation, and an inhibition in the secondary task-related auditory cortex and Broca’s area. Here, we show that stimulation increases activity and connectivity in flight-related brain areas, particularly in novices, and increases the brain’s ability to focus on flying and ignore distractors. These findings can guide applied neurostimulation in real pilot training to enhance skill acquisition and can be applied widely in other complex perceptual-motor real-world tasks.
Article
BackgroundThere is a gap in our understanding of how best to apply transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to enhance learning in complex, realistic, and multi-focus tasks such as aviation.ObjectiveOur goal was to assess the effects of tDCS applied during training with feedback on task performance, brain activity, and connectivity using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).MethodsNovice and advanced pilots were recruited to perform a one-day, three-run flight simulator task involving eight combinations of difficulty with a secondary auditory task. Stimulation group (versus sham group) received 1.5 mA high-definition, HD-tDCS to the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) for 30 minutes during the training. Whole brain fMRI was collected before, during, and after stimulation.ResultsActive stimulation vs sham post-training compared to pre-training had a significant effect on piloting performance, as well as experience level and their interaction. Specifically, novices improved performance more with active stim. fMRI revealed that stimulation increased brain activation for the most difficult conditions post-training in the left cerebellum, and right and left basal ganglia. tDCS increased activation in the right DLPFC and connectivity between DLPFC and cerebellum, and inhibited activity in secondary task-related auditory cortex and Broca’s area (All pFWE<0.05).ConclusiontDCS delivered to the right DLPFC, an area associated with skill in flying, improved performance both during and after the training period, and particularly in novices. The stimulation increases activity in flight-related brain areas directly as a result of the tDCS as indicated by connectivity analysis, and increases the brain’s ability to focus on flying and ignore distractors. These results will guide applied neurostimulation in real training to enhance skill acquisition in training pilots, and can be applied widely in other complex perceptual motor real-world tasks.
Article
Background: The future of work in Germany is shaped by megatrends like globalization, automatization, digitization, and the demographic change. Furthermore, mass customization and the increasing usage of AI even in manual assembly offers new opportunities as well as it creates new challenges. Objective: The trend towards mass customization in turn leads to increased complexity in production, which results in additional mental workload. This effect will continue in the foreseeable future. Method: Especially for small and medium sized companies, the backbone of Germany's economy, automatization and Human-Robot-Collaboration will take time to develop. Information assistance systems are and will be a bridging technology to help organizations to manage increasing complexity and the mental workload of their employees to not only boost productivity but also keep their workforce healthy. The ongoing demographic change further underlines the need to use information assistance systems to compensate possible age-associated deficits, but also keep older employees committed to their work and avoid effects of disengagement or disenfranchisement through participatory ergonomics. Results: Information assistance systems can only develop their inherent potential if they are designed to support employees of varying age, competence levels, and affinity for technology. Participatory development and early engagement are key factors for an increased acceptance and usage of the systems as well as the individualization to make it suitable for each individual employee. Conclusion: Expanding the functionalities to an adaptive assistance system, using physiological correlates of mental workload as an input, is conceivable in the future.
Article
The reasonable design of the alarm signal in the man-machine system is one of the important factors that determine the occurrence of safety accidents. Neuroergonomics provides a new perspective for the study of the cognitive process of alarm signals, which can reveal the mechanism of human perception of visual alarm signals from the cognitive level of the brain, thereby identifying the effectiveness of alarm signals. The article's research simulated the human-machine system for heat dissipation of new energy vehicles, used the automatic control interface of the cooling water system as the stimulus material, and used the event-related potential technology in cognitive neuroscience for experimental verification. The experimental results showed that: three kinds of alarm signals (color, color + shape, color + orientation) all induce visual mismatch waves, and the effective response of human to the alarm signal is color + orientation, color + shape, color from small to large, which provides a reference for the design of the alarm signal of the man-machine system.
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(1) Background: Cognitive aspects and complexity in modern manual mixed model assembly are increasing. To reduce mental workload (MWL), informational assistance systems are introduced. The influence of complexity and used assistance system on MWL should be investigated to further improve the implementation of such assistance systems. (2) Methods: Using a simulated close to real-life assembly task a 2 × 3 design was chosen, with two levels of assembly complexity (within subjects) and three different assistance systems (paper, Augmented Reality (AR)-glasses, tablet–between subjects). MWL was measured using either physiological response (electrocardiogram (ECG) and eye-tracking) or performance indicators. (3) Results: An influence of task complexity on MWL can be shown. Additionally, usability based differences between the used assistance systems become more evident with reference to the results of area of interest analysis. (4) Conclusions: Using a multi-modal measurement approach, it is possible to detect complexity-based differences in MWL. Additional research on validity and alignment is needed to further use these for (neuro-) ergonomic considerations and recommendations.
Book
This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 4th International Symposium on Human Mental Workload: Models and Applications, H-WORKLOAD 2020, held in Granda, Spain*, in December 2020. The volume presents one keynote paper as well as 13 revised full papers, which were carefully reviewed and selected from 22 submissions. The papers are organized in two topical sections on models and applications. *The conference was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Chapter
Die Ergonomie unterliegt einem Wandel. Dominierte bislang eine biomechanische oder energetische Sicht auf die Gestaltung von Arbeitsplätzen und damit verbundenen Arbeitstätigkeiten, so gewinnt im Zuge der Digitalisierung eine stärker informatorische Sicht an Bedeutung. Im Kern geht es bei dieser Ausrichtung um die informatorische Optimierung der Bedingungen am Arbeitsplatz, so dass Information besser und schneller aufgenommen, kognitiv verarbeitet und zu fehlerfreier Performanz geführt wird. Eine unter vielen Möglichkeiten der Optimierung liegt in der Einführung digitaler, informatorischer Assistenzsysteme, die bei dynamischer und an die Wissens- und Erfahrungsstrukturen der Beschäftigten angepasster Gestaltung hohe Akzeptanz finden und zu einer Minderung der mentalen Beanspruchung führen.
Article
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Coffee and tea are two of the most popular beverages in the world and have been consumed for more than a thousand years. They have become an integral part of the day for many consumers and may aid not only increased social interactions but also productivity. However, there is no conclusive evidence of their comparative effect on cognitive ability. This study investigated the impact of tea and coffee products on cognitive performance in typical office work-related tasks using brain, body, and behavioral measures. In a controlled multi-day study, we explored the effects of both traditional and cognition-enhancing hot beverages through task performance and self-reported measures. A total of 120 participants completed three work-related tasks from different cognitive domains and consumed either a traditional or cognition-enhancing hot beverage. During the study, we measured brain activity in the prefrontal cortex using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) as well as arousal from skin conductance through electrodermal activity (EDA) while participants completed cognitive tasks and consumed the beverages. Neural efficiency was used to evaluate cognitive performance in the tasks. Neural efficiency was calculated from a composite score of behavioral efficiency and cognitive effort, and emotional arousal was estimated from EDA activity. Results indicated that for different cognitive domains, the enhanced hot beverages showed improved neural efficiency over that of a traditional hot beverage. This is the first study to assess the impact of both traditional and cognition-enhancing drinks using a multimodal approach for workplace-related assignments.
Chapter
For neuroergonomists who wish to apply Adaptive Control of Thought-Rational (ACT-R) to investigate the human mind and its structure including learning, performance, and problem-solving skills, this chapter aims at providing an overview of ACT-R with an emphasis on its modules, buffers, and sub-symbolic levels. ACT-R is a high-level computational simulation of human cognitive processing and one of the cognition theories that seek to predict human performance in real-world settings. A group of previous studies on behavioral- and neural-based cognitive modeling of human cognition using ACT-R will also be discussed. Finally, this chapter presents future directions of ACT-R for neuroergonomics research.
Chapter
The benefits of collaborative learning are based on the capacity of co-learners to perform better and to learn more despite the increased complexity of this setting over individual learning. These benefits are not always present, and may depend on co-learners’ collaboration skills. Collaboration skills are complex, as they target the dynamic alignment between the individual and joint actions, as well as cognitive and affective states of co-learners with the requirements of a learning task. This chapter emphasizes the pivotal role of co-learners’ monitoring and regulation in attaining and maintaining a coordination of efforts that is conducive to learning. This perspective highlights the hypothesis that the scarcity of the information that the co-learners have access to during natural interaction leads to suboptimal learning interactions that may not always outweigh the increased complexity of collaborative learning. Methodologies from neuroscience can provide pertinent information during or after a learning interaction to empower co-learners.
Article
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Electroencephalograph (EEG) has been increasingly studied to identify distinct mental factors when persons perform cognitively demanding tasks. However, most of these studies examined EEG correlates at channel domain, which suffers the limitation that EEG signals are the mixture of multiple underlying neuronal sources due to the volume conduction effect. Moreover, few studies have been conducted in real-world tasks. To precisely probe EEG correlates with specific neural substrates to mental factors in real-world tasks, the present study examined EEG correlates to three mental factors, i.e., mental fatigue [also known as time-on-task (TOT) effect], workload and effort, in EEG component signals, which were obtained using an independent component analysis (ICA) on high-density EEG data. EEG data were recorded when subjects performed a realistically simulated air traffic control (ATC) task for 2 h. Five EEG independent component (IC) signals that were associated with specific neural substrates (i.e., the frontal, central medial, motor, parietal, occipital areas) were identified. Their spectral powers at their corresponding dominant bands, i.e., the theta power of the frontal IC and the alpha power of the other four ICs, were detected to be correlated to mental workload and effort levels, measured by behavioral metrics. Meanwhile, a linear regression analysis indicated that spectral powers at five ICs significantly increased with TOT. These findings indicated that different levels of mental factors can be sensitively reflected in EEG signals associated with various brain functions, including visual perception, cognitive processing, and motor outputs, in real-world tasks. These results can potentially aid in the development of efficient operational interfaces to ensure productivity and safety in ATC and beyond.
Conference Paper
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Situation awareness (SA) is the ability and capacity to perceive information and act on it acceptably. Head Up Display (HUD) versus Head Down Display (HDD) manipulation induced variation in task difficulty. HUD and HDD cockpit displays or display designs promoted or impaired SA. The quantitative research presented in this paper examines basic neurocognitive factors in order to identify their specific contributions to the formation of SA, while studying display usability and the effects on SA. Visual attentiveness (Va), perceptiveness (Vp), and spatial working memory (Vswm) were assessed as predictors of SA under varying task difficulty. The study participants were 19 tactical airlift pilots, selected from the Ohio Air National Guard. Neurocognitive tests were administered to the participants prior to flight. In-flight SA was objectively and subjectively assessed for 24 flights. At the completion of this field experiment, the data were analyzed and the tests were statistically significant for the three predictor visual abilities Vp, Va, and Vswm as task difficulty was varied, F(3,11) = 8.125, p = .008. In addition, multiple regression analyses revealed that the visual abilities together predicted a majority of the variance in SA, R² = 0.753, p = .008. As validated and verified by ECG and EEG data, the HUD yielded a full ability and capacity to anticipate and accommodate trends were as the HDD yielded a saturated ability to anticipate and accommodate trends. Post-hoc tests revealed a Cohen’s f² = 3.05 yielding statistical power to be 0.98. This work results in a significant contribution to the field by providing an improved understanding of SA and path to safer travel for society worldwide. PA 88ABW-2015-1282.
Chapter
A Sense-Assess-Augment (SAA) framework – originally outlined by Galster and Johnson (Sense-assess-augment: a taxonomy for human effectiveness. Technical report. United States Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, 2013) and based loosely on the adaptive system framework of Feigh et al. (Hum Fact 54(6):1008–1024, 2012) – is presented for approaching augmentation of human performance. While the SAA framework has broad application across all three elements of human-computer interaction, including the machine, the human-machine interface, and the human operator, here we focus on its role for human performance augmentation. SAA begins with the human, sensing their physical, physiological, and psychological state. Sensing is the most mature piece of the SAA paradigm, because it leverages the considerable commercial investments in wearable sensors for athletics, healthcare, and human productivity. As a result, sensors exist or are in development that can measure a wide range of physiological parameters, such as brain activity, eye movement, skin temperature, and increasingly biological performance markers, such as blood glucose levels and molecules like orexin that indicate the onset of fatigue. Assessment involves aggregation of data from multiple sensors, algorithmic processing of the data, and correlation of the results to behaviors and actions of interest. The challenge is to empirically make sense of the data in relation to baselines that vary between and within individuals, and the needs of a task at hand that is shared by both human and machine and that may occur both in real time and across the human lifetime. Finally, based on the assessment, appropriate augmentation is delivered, which can take many forms, including redistribution of tasks from man to machine, changes in the operating environment, influences from external hardware, or even the growing use of “electroceuticals” – the use of electric stimulation to augment performance. The SAA framework provides a way of approaching human performance augmentation that is consistent with and leverages the emerging understanding of how humans can interact effectively with autonomous systems in an entirely new socio-technical dynamic.
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