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Neural Correlates of Mental Workload in Virtual Flight Simulation

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HCI International 2020 – Late Breaking Posters (HCII 2020)

Part of the book series: Communications in Computer and Information Science ((CCIS,volume 1294))

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Abstract

Real-time monitoring of pilot mental workload has important applications in cognitive assessment and flight safety. Progress in wireless electroencephalography (EEG) and 3D flight simulation has provided novel opportunities to advance our understanding of adaptive levels of workload during flight. The present work examines neural correlates of mental workload evoked by ecologically valid flight tasks and furthers the application of human-computer interaction in aviation. Performance and EEG data were collected while 47 participants completed basic aviator tasks in a virtual reality environment where working memory load was manipulated. Analyses investigated event-related potentials (ERP) and spectral power density differences in moderate and high task load conditions across key brain regions. The subtle modulation of moderate to high workload did not reveal significant differences in frequency changes across parietal and frontal regions or participant performance; however, a frontal ERP showed a significant effect of workload. Classification by performance level showed better utility, where greater beta power was found in the parietal regions and increased delta activity was measured in the frontal regions. Results indicate that EEG analyses that exploit spectral data from the frontal and parietal regions may offer reliable approaches for classifying performance in high workload conditions in virtual aviation environments

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6, Canada

    Polina Andrievskaia, Kathleen Van Benthem & Chris M. Herdman

Authors
  1. Polina Andrievskaia
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  2. Kathleen Van Benthem
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  3. Chris M. Herdman
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Polina Andrievskaia .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Crete and Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH), Heraklion, Crete, Greece

    Constantine Stephanidis

  2. Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH), Heraklion, Crete, Greece

    Margherita Antona

  3. Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH), Heraklion, Crete, Greece

    Stavroula Ntoa

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Andrievskaia, P., Van Benthem, K., Herdman, C.M. (2020). Neural Correlates of Mental Workload in Virtual Flight Simulation. In: Stephanidis, C., Antona, M., Ntoa, S. (eds) HCI International 2020 – Late Breaking Posters. HCII 2020. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 1294. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-60703-6_67

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-60703-6_67

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-60702-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-60703-6

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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