Effects of long and short simulated flights on the saccadic eye movement velocity of aviators

Leandro L Di Stasi; Michael B McCamy; Susana Martinez-Conde; Ellis Gayles; Chad Hoare; Michael Foster; Andrés Catena; Stephen L Macknik

doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2015.10.024

Effects of long and short simulated flights on the saccadic eye movement velocity of aviators

Physiol Behav. 2016 Jan 1:153:91-6. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2015.10.024. Epub 2015 Oct 24.

Authors

Leandro L Di Stasi¹, Michael B McCamy², Susana Martinez-Conde³, Ellis Gayles⁴, Chad Hoare⁵, Michael Foster⁵, Andrés Catena⁶, Stephen L Macknik⁷

Affiliations

¹ Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, AZ, USA; Mind, Brain, and Behavior Research Center (CIMCYC), University of Granada, Granada, Spain; Joint Center University of Granada - Spanish Army Training and Doctrine Command, Granada, Spain.
² Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, AZ, USA.
³ Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, AZ, USA; Department of Ophthalmology, State University of New York, Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY, USA.
⁴ Aviation Survival Training Center Miramar, San Diego, CA, USA.
⁵ Marine Aircraft Group 39, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, Marine Corps Base, Camp Pendleton, CA, USA.
⁶ Mind, Brain, and Behavior Research Center (CIMCYC), University of Granada, Granada, Spain.
⁷ Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, AZ, USA; Department of Ophthalmology, State University of New York, Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY, USA. Electronic address: macknik@neuralcorrelate.com.

PMID: 26597121
DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2015.10.024

Abstract

Aircrew fatigue is a major contributor to operational errors in civil and military aviation. Objective detection of pilot fatigue is thus critical to prevent aviation catastrophes. Previous work has linked fatigue to changes in oculomotor dynamics, but few studies have studied this relationship in critical safety environments. Here we measured the eye movements of US Marine Corps combat helicopter pilots before and after simulated flight missions of different durations.We found a decrease in saccadic velocities after long simulated flights compared to short simulated flights. These results suggest that saccadic velocity could serve as a biomarker of aviator fatigue.

Keywords: Combat aviation; Fatigue; Flight simulation; Helicopter; Main sequence; Neuroergonomics; Saccades; Time-on-task; Training; USMC.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Adult
Aerospace Medicine / methods*
Aviation*
Computer Simulation
Endophenotypes
Fatigue / diagnosis
Fatigue / physiopathology*
Humans
Male
Saccades / physiology*
Time Factors
Young Adult