Cardiac autonomic responses in relation to cognitive workload during simulated military flight
研究通过模拟军事飞行任务，发现心率变异性指标能区分不同认知负荷水平的飞行阶段，且认知负荷增加导致副交感神经活动减弱，可用于评估飞行员认知负荷和表现。
Understanding the operator's cognitive workload is crucial for efficiency and safety in human-machine systems. This study investigated how cognitive workload modulates cardiac autonomic regulation during a standardized military simulator flight. Military student pilots completed simulated flight tasks in a Hawk flight simulator. Continuous electrocardiography was recorded to analyze time and frequency domain heart rate variability (HRV). After the simulation, a flight instructor used a standardized method to evaluate student pilot's individual cognitive workload from video-recorded flight simulator data. Results indicated that HRV was able to differentiate flight phases that induced varying levels of cognitive workload; an increasing level of cognitive workload caused significant decreases in many HRV variables, mainly reflecting parasympathetic deactivation of cardiac autonomic regulation. In conclusion, autonomic physiological responses can be used to examine reactions to increased cognitive workload during simulated military flights. HRV could be beneficial in assessing individual responses to cognitive workload and pilot performance during simulator training.