AHFE Open AccessNeuroergonomics and Cognitive Engineering
Editors: Alexander M. Yemelyanov, Tareq Z. Ahram
Topics: Neuroergonomics and Cognitive Engineering
Publication Date: 2025
ISBN: 978-1-964867-43-4
DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1005978
Articles
Dependency of Postural Control Factors on Sway in Individuals with/without Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy
Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) is one of the leading causes of decreased sensation in the feet. This consequentially deteriorates the capability of postural control and increases the potential risk of slips or falls. Various studies have investigated the effect of DPN on postural control, incidents of slips or falls, and gait changes by measuring postural sway. The dependent measurements used in the analysis of the effect of DPN on postural instability include displacement of sway path, velocity or acceleration of sway, and virtual time to contact a boundary. These measurements characterize how quickly or slowly the body sway may reach an area for postural control and not regain stability after a perturbation. In the literature, many studies have concluded that individuals with DPN tend to sway more than those without DPN, and thus may be at higher risk of slips or falls. This inference has been based on comparisons of descriptive statistics for observed sway measure between the two groups. Additionally, most of these studies applied different postural control factors, perturbation types, apparatus of measurement, and dependent variables. As a result, there are inconsistent reports regarding the effect of DPN on instability. Several studies have discussed potential causes of the inconsistency. From the perspective of sensory information processes needed, these include variability of perturbed sensory perceptual systems and different types of postural control triggers such as local-control using postural muscles or central-control using sensory cueing. Postural control requires many different neuromusculoskeletal components working at various joints. However, all studies in the literature have used the simple outcome resulted by working those components together as a dependent variable without considering a possible dependency of those components on sway in individuals with/without DPN. To date, few studies have considered DPN as a dependent variable and measure of sway as an independent variable. The objective of this study was to propose an application of mediation analysis to measure an impact of sway on determination of DPN by considering sway measure as a mediator variable between postural control factors and DPN.
Byungjoon Kim, Tracey Kim
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings
The Psychological State Evaluation Method of a Main Control Room Operator Based on Physiological Signals
Mental state refers to the comprehensive state of mental activities and mental characteristics such as emotion, perception, thinking, will, fatigue, etc., which has a great impact on human operation performance. The main control room of nuclear power plant is the key link to the safety and efficiency of nuclear power system, and the operator is the main part of it. Therefore, the analysis and evaluation of the operator's psychological state has become the main technical means to improve the operation safety of the main control room. Brain fatigue is a psychological phenomenon that operators in the main control room of nuclear power plants often face. Workload is the most important cause of mental fatigue. Therefore, this paper takes workload and mental fatigue as research objects, and studies the evaluation methods of operators' mental states under accident conditions based on EEG and ECG physiological signals. Fatigue induced experiment and workload evaluation experiment were designed respectively, and EEG and ECG signals were collected before and after the experimental task. Fifteen operators were selected as volunteers to participate in the fatigue induction experiment, and the independent variable was task duration. The operators were required to continuously handle one Steam Generator Tube Ruptures (SGTR) accident with a duration of approximately 40 minutes and one SGTR accident with an additional minor accident inserted with a duration of approximately 60 minutes. Another 14 operators were selected as volunteers to participate in the workload evaluation experiment. The independent variable was tasks with different workloads, that is, different workloads in the same time were used to represent different levels of workload. In order to avoid the interference of mental fatigue on workload evaluation caused by too long task duration, the operator should not handle tasks for too long. In the workload assessment experiment, the operators were required to deal with a small Loss of Coolant Accident (LOCA) task that lasted about 20 minutes, and then to deal with a large LOCA task that also lasted about 20 minutes after adequate rest. The workload of LOCA big break task was much higher than that of LOCA small break task. The results showed that RMSSD, SDSD, pNN50, pNN20 and HF power of heart rate variability were significantly different after pre-measured rest and 100-minute long task. There were significant differences of EEG characteristics in (α+θ)/(α+β), Beta average power, Beta total power, θ/β, Delta average power, Delta total power, etc. These characteristics could indicate mental fatigue. After different workload tasks, 31 EEG features showed significant differences, including total Theta power, average Theta power, average Delta power, total Delta power, (α+θ)/(α+β), θ/(α+ θ)/β, θ/(α+ θ)/β, θ/(α+ θ)/β, and θ/(α+β) in Fp1 channel. (α+θ)/(α+β), total Theta power of Fp2 channel, etc. Mental fatigue (mental state) was divided into two levels, wakefulness and fatigue, and a mental fatigue classification model was established by Gauss naive Bayes algorithm with an accuracy of 80.0%. The workload was divided into two levels: low workload and high workload. The precision tree algorithm was used to establish the workload classification model, and the classification accuracy is 89.3%.
Qianxiang Zhou, Ke Yang, Zhongqi Liu
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings
A Cognitive Efficiency Approach to Assessing Workload-Performance Tradeoffs in Human-Autonomy Teams
Team environments increasingly integrate autonomous technologies to reduce workload and enhance performance. However, traditional metrics may overlook indirect benefits, particularly cognitive efficiency—the balance between workload and performance. This study examined how autonomous decision support systems (ADSS) affected cognitive efficiency and team communication in a high-fidelity simulated combat environment. Twenty-eight military personnel completed ten missions, alternating between conditions with and without ADSS that provided task-switching cues and flexible task allocation. Results showed that missions using ADSS produced higher cognitive efficiency, indicating improved performance relative to workload, though benefits varied by role and team. Teams also demonstrated enhanced communication patterns with ADSS, using more insight-related language, and maintaining a more positive tone. These findings highlight cognitive efficiency as a valuable metric for evaluating autonomy in complex environments and reveal how autonomous systems can enhance team effectiveness through improved team processes.
T'kara Mullins, Stephen Fiore
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings
Adaptive Task Reallocation for Lunar Exploration: Cognitive Load Management in VR to Enhance Human-Computer Collaboration
In lunar exploration, astronauts' cognitive load critically impacts the efficacy of Human-Computer Collaboration (HCC). Effective management of cognitive load is essential for lunar mission success. Current research on HCC cognitive load primarily focuses on post-hoc evaluation, failing to leverage real-time assessment and quantitative outcomes, thus misaligning with actual mission demands. Given the interdependence between machine intelligence levels and astronauts' cognitive states, this study proposes an innovative Virtual Reality (VR)-based training system. Centered on three prototypical lunar missions, the system dynamically adjusts task difficulty and machine intelligence levels based on real-time cognitive load monitoring, deliberately exposing astronauts to varying cognitive stress levels. State-of-the-art sensors continuously capture multimodal physiological data (e.g., GSR, HR, SpO₂), enabling real-time task reallocation through an adaptive system. This VR framework holistically addresses multifactorial influences on astronauts' HCC performance in complex lunar environments, establishing a closed-loop integration of physiological data acquisition, cognitive load evaluation, intelligence level modulation, and task difficulty adjustment. By advancing a novel paradigm for optimizing HCC efficiency, this work lays a critical foundation for future lunar exploration in high-demand settings.
Zengrui Li, Qianchen Xia, Weiquan Yang, Ren Xinyi, Tian Ye, Shanguang Chen
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings
Cognitive workload among orthopaedic nurses during the morning rush hours: results from field survey and lab-simulated eye-tracking evaluation
This research sets out to analysis the effect of noise on cognition of nurses in morning shift by simulating eye tracking in laboratory. Background: National health center is planning to further improve the current patient safety management system in the next three years. A policy was made to primarily focusing on the continuous improvement of the system infrastructure by smoothing the working procedures and mechanisms and eliminating all related risk factors in the healthcare delivery system as well as enhancing the overall patient experience during this process. This project is in line with the National Health Commission's plan to keep patients safe by eliminating risk factors in healthcare delivery. Methods: Laboratory simulations were performed using the DG-3 eye tracker, in which blink rate and pupil area were used for cognitive analysis. Physiological indexes of nurses were collected by bracelet equipment. Python and MATLAB language used by researchers to analysis obtained data in lab. Results: Noise generally reduces workers' concentration; White noise in the environment can make workers resistant to complex noises. Conclusion: This study reveals the effect of noise on cognitive load, which has important significance for optimizing nursing operation and improving patient safety. This study has made a major breakthrough in the application of eye tracking technology in the assessment of cognitive load.
Xuanang Zhao, Wu Zhuoxun, Zhao Wenqi
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings
Emotional Maturity and War-Related Stress
It is known that emotional maturity and its features are closely integrated with various properties, processes, states, and qualities in the human psyche, performing an important evaluative and regulatory functions. Such functions acquire a special role when a person is experiencing war related stresse. This work investigates how emotional maturity is manifested in civilians suffering from various military operations related stresses. The following tasks were solved: first, to generalize and clarify data on emotional maturity and the characteristics of stress perception; second, to empirically investigate the characteristics of emotional maturity, including its features and the manifestation of stress in people suffering from war related conditions. Our hypothesis was that there are complexes of various properties of emotional maturity, among which there are leading ones that can characterize specifics of a person's perception of certain levels of stress. Determining and taking into account the latter can contribute to an adequate approach to finding means of prevention and psychocorrection of stress, as well as conditions for the development of emotional maturity.It was shown that an integral assessment of the content of emotional maturity can be carried out on the basis of such features as: first, introextensiveness, extraexpressiveness and general expressiveness; second, introself-regulation, extraself-regulation and general self-regulation; third, introempathy, extraempathy and general empathy. When understanding stress, assessments of its perception, overexertion, resistance, stress resistance can be important. When solving the second task, based on a survey of 69 people aged 21 to 45, two groups were distinguished: those who had a high level of stress (52.3%) and those who had mainly an average level of its manifestation (47.5%). The difference in all stress indicators between the groups was statistically significant (P<0.05). Similar differences in emotional maturity indicators according to its full features were also found.Based on the correlation analysis in the group of people with a high level of stress, the complex included indicators characterizing the connections are: stress resistance with perception, overexertion and resistance at the level of (P <0.05); extraso-regulation, as well as self-regulation with the perception of stress (P < 0.01). Based on the above, it can be assumed that in people with a high level of stress, the complex of properties that can characterize their emotional maturity includes a high level of extra-self-regulation and average self-regulation, where the latter is the leading one in this complex. In the group with a predominantly average level of stress, relationship was found between stress resistance and intro-self-regulation, self-regulation, and the integral indicator of emotional maturity at the level ((P< 0.01). There were also relationships at the level (P <0.01) of the indicator of stress perception with intro-empathy, empathy, and general emotional maturity, which is the leading one in this complex (P<0.05). Taking into account the specifics of the described complexes and the leading ones among them that characterize emotional maturity can serve as the basis for an adequate selection of means of prevention and psychocorrection of stress in people suffering from war related conditions.
Oleksiy Chebykin, Inna Bedny, Marianna Skoromna, Olena Kosyanove
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings
Enhancing decision-making in risk and uncertainty through OpenAI API integration
In today's complex and rapidly evolving environment, decision-making and problem-solving under risk and uncertainty present significant challenges for individuals. Traditional methods often fall short due to cognitive limitations, information overload, and emotional biases. Express Decision, the decision-making augmentation system developed from the framework of systemic-structural activity theory, helps decide on the most satisficing alternative for solving the problem of risk reduction. A satisficing alternative is an alternative that satisfies requirements for risk reduction and is sufficient for the decision-maker. The process of solving the problem is self-regulating, where the problem goal, initially set up as an uncertain “sufficient risk reduction”, should be clarified in the process of problem-solving to reflect the formation of the mental model, while the activity goal should be accordingly modified by adding corresponding objectives as criteria for success to reflect the formation of the level of motivation. This iterative process ultimately leads to the most satisficing solution to the problem. Given human limitations in computational capacity due to the size of working memory, the augmentation system supports computation on various levels, encompassing motivation, self-efficacy, and risk reduction. This paper explores the integration of OpenAI APIs into Express Decision, enhancing cognitive functions, motivation, self-regulation, and self-efficacy in decision-making contexts. Cognition, fundamentally rooted in information processing, can be significantly augmented through OpenAI APIs. These advanced language models can analyze vast amounts of data, identify patterns, and generate insights that might be overlooked by human cognition alone. By providing timely, relevant, and comprehensible information, these APIs reduce cognitive load and support more informed and effective decision-making. They assist in risk assessment and forecasting outcomes, enabling users to more easily navigate complex problems. Motivation, the energetic force driving individuals toward goal achievement, is also positively impacted by the integration of OpenAI APIs. The interactive and responsive nature of these tools promotes better engagement in challenging tasks. By offering tailored feedback and recommendations, the AI models create an interactive environment supporting problem-solving. This interaction can help sustain motivation under uncertainty. Self-regulation is crucial when facing risk and uncertainty, as it enables the user to manage their behavior, emotions, and thoughts when pursuing long-term goals,. OpenAI APIs can enhance self-regulation by assisting users in setting goals and objectives, as well as prompting users to consider alternative strategies when obstacles arise. OpenAI APIs reinforce self-efficacy, which is the belief in one's capacity to execute actions for desired outcomes. By breaking down complex problems into manageable steps and providing guidance, the AI models empower users to tackle challenges with increased confidence. As users experience increased self-efficacy with the assistance of AI, their belief in their abilities is reinforced, which results in greater persistence and willingness to engage in more difficult decision-making.Integrating OpenAI APIs not only augments cognitive and motivational processes but also supports psychological factors essential in an effective decision-making and problem-solving environment, reducing uncertainty with data-driven insights.
Alexander M. Yemelyanov, Harikrishnan U Nair
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings
Psychological Profiles of Deceivers and their Motives
Deception is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon that has a significant impact on interpersonal relationship and social structure. Study of psychological profiles of deceivers and motives that encourage them to deceive are important steps towards understanding this phenomenon. This paper examines various types of personality prone to deception and the psychological characteristics of each type. The authors’ model of operational psychodiagnostic and interpretation of data on deception attempts by different psychological profiles (psychotypes) is presented. The purpose of this study is to identify the main psychological profiles of deceivers and analyze the motives that encourage them to deceive. At the same time, we proceeded from the hypothesis that there are certain personal properties of an individual and motives, which can characterize the specificity of deception of each profile.The work summarizes and systematized the results of research on various personality characteristics that affect deception and its manifestations: responsibility as a determinant of the tendency to deceive; the attitude of individuals to various types of deception; analysis of the motives of affiliation and sincerity of the individual, the features of the motivation of adolescents and types of deception; features leading to life satisfaction and deceitfulness in adolescence; tendency to manifest risky behavior and deceitfulness of the individual; the role of the motivational-volitional sphere in the formation of characteristics of personality; the influence of predisposition to conflict inducing behavior on the tendency to various types of deception; comparative analysis of the types of deception in narcissistic and hysterical personalities, etc.To solve the above listed tasks we analyzed theoretical and methodological approaches to understanding the phenomenon of deception taking into account the psychological characteristics of the individual; substantiated methods and technologies of psychodiagnostics of deception; considered characterological, typological and individual psychological factors and determinants of deception; built a model and conducted an empirical study of the psychological profiles of deceivers and motives that encourage deception; formulated a conceptual authors’ model of operational psychodiagnostics and interpretation of data on attempts to deceive by different psychotypes.As a result of this study, we concluded that deceivers can have different psychological profiles, which include certain accentuations of character and socio-psychological attitudes. built a model of operational psychodiagnostics and interpretation of data on attempts to deceive by different psychotypes. Using the authors’ model allowed us to analyze these profiles in a detailed manner and identify key motives that encourage deception. The main motives for deception were the need for self-affirmation, avoidance of punishment, achievement of personal benefits and manipulation of others. The results of the study can be used to develop effective strategies for detecting and preventing deception in various areas of life, including business, law enforcement and interpersonal relationship.
Oleksiy Chebykin, Olena Kosyanove, Inna Bedny
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings
Workplace Burnout and its impact on productivity in the service sector of the city of Bogotá D.C., Colombia
The research evaluates job burnout in two service sectors in Bogota: the food industry, specifically in restaurants, and the beauty industry. The main objective is to measure the impact of job burnout on productivity in these organizations. The ProSalud-MBL instrument, which relates job burnout factors to productivity, was used and applied to a sample of 72 workers in three restaurants and two hairdressing salons.The mixed approach research required the informed consent of the participants, who were trained on the objectives and process of the study. The ProSalud-MBL instrument uses a Likert scale from 0 to 6, to indicate the frequency with all respondents identify themselves with various statements. This instrument makes it possible to establish alert levels of burnout, ranking them as high, medium and low, which helps in the implementation of interventions according to severity.According to the results, in the food sector, participants in the sample were mainly single men, with less than half of them being fathers; most of them had a university education and had been working for less than 36 months. In contrast, the sample in the beauty sector is made up mostly of women, 50% of whom have children, and with a predominant educational level of high school and technical school. Both groups report long working hours, exceeding 10 hours per day, and little time for recreational activities.Workers in both sectors consider their work to be repetitive, with few breaks, which contributes to fatigue. The attention required to perform tasks is perceived as medium to high, which can increase the risk of accidents. The most critical dimension reported by the participants is the Work-Family Relationship, which suggests the need for strategies to improve this aspect, common in all the organizations studied. The analysis of the five organizations revealed that restaurants presents the most worrying levels of Job Stress, Work-Health Relationship and Work-Family Relationship. However, the elements related to the dimensions of “Fulfillment of Organizational Goals” and “Self-Management and Organizational Support” were rated positively in all organizations.The use of the ProSalud-MBL instrument is fundamental for linking job burnout with productivity, making it possible to measure its impact on work performance. In addition, it facilitates the quantification of the gap between the current and ideal situation, which helps to identify weaknesses and establish appropriate corrective actions. The research highlights the importance of addressing job burnout to improve productivity in the sectors analyzed, especially by strengthening the work-family relationship, a dimension reported as the most compromised according to the perception of workers in the five organizations.
Emilsy Medina, Diana Londoño, Biviana Ramirez
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings
Optimizing Multimodal Alarm Design for Attention Allocation in Discrete Monitoring Tasks
Discrete monitoring tasks are common in scenarios such as flight missions, air traffic control, nuclear power plant monitoring, and clinical healthcare. In these tasks, operators perform sequential routine operations while remaining vigilant for anomalies and responding to alarms. Current alarm systems primarily rely on visual (V) and auditory (A) modalities. However, prolonged monitoring and high cognitive demands during emergencies can overwhelm these channels, jeopardizing system safety. Existing studies suggest that integrating visual, auditory, and tactile (T) modalities in multimodal alarms can improve performance under high perceptual load of visual and auditory modalities. However, the effectiveness of multimodal alarms across different scenarios remains debatable, with redundancy costs observed in some scenarios. Limited research on multimodal alarms in discrete monitoring tasks leaves a gap in understanding their specific effectiveness. A challenging scenario in discrete monitoring tasks involves simultaneous routine operations and alarm responses. Operators often prioritize routine operations due to well-established stimulus-response associations, neglecting urgent alarms. Leveraging sensory modalities can modulate attention control modes (ACMs)—categorized as exogenous or endogenous. For instance, auditory presentation of routine operation information may dominate attention through auditory preemption, overshadowing visual alarms, thus exhibiting exogenous control. In contrast, using VA or VAT alarm could introduce competition between auditory information from routine operations and alarms, prompting operators to shift from a stimulus-response mode to an analytical approach prioritizing alarms. While alarm modality design holds potential for enhancing task prioritization, its impact on ACMs in dual-task scenarios remains unclear. This study developed a generalized discrete monitoring task to investigate six alarm modalities (V, A, VA, VT, AT, VAT) under four workload conditions: Baseline, Low workload, High workload with spaced tasks (HighSpac), and High workload with simultaneous tasks (HighSimu). The HighSimu condition specifically examined ACMs during dual-task competition by presenting routine operation information via auditory channel (with its preemption) to induce exogenous control and requiring operators to prioritize alarms using endogenous control. Twenty-two participants performed simulated emergency tasks in a controlled experiment. Data on hits, errors, misses, choice response times (CRTs), perceived workload (using NASA-TLX), user experience (using UEQ questionaire), and ACMs under HighSimu conditions were collected. Key findings include: 1) Hit rates, errors, and misses: Under Low workload, V alarm performed worst, while other modalities showed no significant differences. 2) CRTs: Under Low workload, VAT and VT alarms performed best, while V alarm performed worst. In HighSimu, V alarm had the longest CRTs, with no significant differences among others. 3) Perceived workload: No differences were found under Baseline, HighSpac, and HighSimu conditions. However, VAT alarm outperformed V and A alarms in perceived "Performance" under Low workload. 4) User experience: VAT alarm consistently ranked highest across workload conditions, while V alarm performed the worst. 5) ACMs: No significant differences were observed under HighSimu, but A alarm showed a relative advantage in fostering endogenous control compared to V alarm. These findings provide insights into enhancing operator performance and system safety, with practical implications for optimizing alarm design and selection for discrete monitoring tasks.
Wenzhe Cun, Hao Fan, Jianjie Chu, Deng Kai Chen
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings
Toward a Probability-Based Framework for Cognitive Ergonomics in Future AI User Interfaces
Based on a year-long autoethnographic study of ChatGPT and DALL-E, this paper examines the intersection of cognitive ergonomics, focusing on mental processes in human-technology interactions, and the design of both prompt and graphical user interfaces (UI) for generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) models. It investigates how probabilistic reasoning frameworks can be optimized to enhance user interaction in design and graphical content production tasks. By exploring the cognitive and logical foundations of these interactions, the study confirms that the inherent probabilistic nature of GenAI demands a shift from rule-based interfaces to those that embrace the ubiquitous uncertainty present in both the system and the user. A probabilistic approach to UI design is proposed to improve clarity and effectiveness amid increasing complexity and unpredictability, addressing the limitations of current natural language-based prompts and feedback interfaces in professional workflows. Drawing on the newly developed Networked Two-Way Communication Channels (NTCC) theory and its entropy alignment techniques, the paper evaluates interdisciplinary comparisons across various design practices to determine the effectiveness and limitations of GenAI as a design aid, providing both qualitative and quantitative insights into tool performance. Additionally, the paper introduces a set of situation-specific graphical “Turing tests” as benchmark assessment procedures for evaluating AI models’ readiness in graphical production tasks. The findings underscore that randomness will persist in GenAI technology and that embracing probability-based mental modeling in complex UI design is likely essential for harnessing the transformative potential of AI models, thereby fully realizing their creative and productive capabilities.
Lance Chong
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings
A subjective and objective synchronization assessment method of cognitive load for the lunar exploration
The cognitive load of astronauts has a large impact on the efficiency of human-machine co-operation, and the reasonable adjustment of astronauts' cognitive load is crucial to guarantee the success of the mission. However, the current cognitive load prediction and assessment methods have the problems of detaching the evoked task (N-back) from the main task and the high latency of subjective load assessment, which affect the accuracy of the prediction and assessment of cognitive load. Therefore, the study proposes a subjective-objective synchronised cognitive load experimental assessment method for typical tasks on the lunar surface, where a dynamic N-back experimental paradigm is designed according to the operation process to induce different levels of cognitive loads for the astronauts, and at the same time, the astronauts are required to complete corresponding NASA-TLX scale pop-ups for real-time subjective load assessment in different operation processes. In the objective assessment, the multimodal signals of the astronauts were collected based on GSR, ECG and PPG for feature extraction. Finally, this study constructs a comprehensive assessment model of human-machine collaborative effectiveness for lunar surface operations based on behavioural performance and cognitive load state and verifies its validity through typical experimental tasks. The experimental assessment method can comprehensively consider the human-machine cooperative ability of astronauts under the influence of multiple factors in the lunar surface special-cause environment, construct the N-back experimental paradigm of the evoked task and the typical task organically combined experiments, and at the same time reduce the latency of the subjective evaluation, realise the synchronous assessment based on subjective and objective physiological and task data, and effectively enhance the accuracy of the prediction and assessment of the cognitive load.
Weiquan Yang, Zengrui Li, Tian Ye, Yalei Liu, Ren Xinyi, Tianle Wang, Shanguang Chen, Qianchen Xia
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings
Assessing the effectiveness of virtual reality tasks as stress-inducing environments
For safety reasons, the impact of stress on cognitive readiness cannot be assessed, in real-time hazardous working scenarios, by several psychophysiological methods. This study aimed to assess the validity of virtual reality environments in eliciting a significant level of stress, allowing the study of behaviours that might mimic those typically expressed by workers in an oil platform. Humans have a complex brain structure that enables learning, task performance, and responsiveness to stimuli. Cognitive readiness refers to the state in which alertness and mental preparation reach the necessary level for an adequate performance, especially in complex and unpredictable environments. However, external factors, such as pressure and stress, may impair cognitive readiness, posing a long-term challenge in several activities, particularly in offshore oil platform workers, who frequently operate in adverse and risky conditions. Therefore, developing innovative technologies to monitor cognitive readiness using accessible, simple, and quickly executed tasks could reduce work-related accidents in these and other hazardous scenarios. However, for safety reasons, psychophysiological measures, such as electroencephalographic signals and electrodermal potentials, which could provide valuable information in developing such technologies, cannot be collected during real-time activities. To partially overcome this experimental barrier, we assessed the effectiveness of a virtual reality (VR) simulation wherein a stress-inducing task was akin, in essential sensorimotor attributes, to complex procedures typically carried out in oil platforms. Materials and methods Adult volunteers were subjected to two tasks: a bomb deactivation simulation in a VR environment (submitting the volunteers to the Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes game under noisy instructions) followed by the presentation on a computer screen of a sequence of either positive or negative images selected from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS). Electrodermal potentials (galvanic skin response, GSR), heart rate (HR), and electroencephalographic activity (EEG) were acquired during the behavioural procedures. The subjective mood questionnaire State- Trait Anxiety Inventory - Scale (STAI-S) was applied before the tasks to evaluate overall anxiety. The STAI-T and the Visual Analogue Mood Scale (VAMS) were also applied after each task to assess feelings of tension, anxiety, and nervousness. Results In this preliminary study, since the main objective was the validation of the stress-inducing VR environment, we concentrated on analysing the impact of the bomb deactivating procedure and the presentation of both kinds of affectively arousing images on the mood state expressed by the volunteers. For the data obtained from the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory scale, a 2X3 two-way mixed design ANOVA, with the between-subjects factor Group (positive vs. negative images) and the within-subjects factor Time (pre-test, post-game, and post-images) revealed a highly significant main effect of the factor Time (F[84,2] = 20.33, p < 0.0001, partial eta-sqr = 0.326). A marginal interaction between the two factors (F[84,2] = 2.548, p = 0.084, partial eta-sqr = 0.057) is in agreement with a post-hoc analysis (Holm’s test) that revealed no statistically significant differences between the three levels of the factor Time for the positive image group. In contrast, a statistically significant difference (p < 0.001) was found between the pre-test average score and the two following average scores (post-game and post-images levels), which did not differ statistically from one another (p > 0.99). For the VAMS data, a 2X2 mixed design ANOVA showed similar results, with a marginal interaction between the two factors (F[41,1] = 2.843, p = 0.099, partial eta- sqr = 0.065), which agrees with a qualitatively (but non-statistically significant) decrease in the anxiety average score only for the positive image group. Conclusion Our findings have shown that the VR-simulated task was able to elicit a substantial level of anxiety that persisted throughout the presentation of the sequence of affective images only in the negative- image group, tending to decline toward normal levels in the positive-image group. Therefore, this setup can be used as a tool to investigate, by means of other psychophysiological methods, a behaviour that mimics real working scenarios.
Bernard Costa, Débora Colodete, Marcus Baldo
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings
Exploratory study for the EEG characteristics of visual-vestibular conflict induced motion sickness
Motion sickness, commonly introduced by conflicting visual-vestibular inputs, remains inadequately characterized at the neurophysiological level, with limited quantitative biomarkers for sensory conflict detection. This study investigated electroencephalographic (EEG) activity patterns associated with varying degrees of visual-vestibular congruence to identify potential neural correlates of sensory conflict. Six healthy participants (aged 18-22 years) underwent controlled motion stimuli while EEG data were recorded using a wireless system. Participants were seated in an electrically powered wheelchair traversing a 3-meter linear track under three experimental conditions: (1) congruent visual-vestibular stimuli, (2) vestibular stimulation without visual input, and (3) conflicting visual-vestibular information. Both forward and backward motion were explored. Spectral analysis of EEG data revealed condition-dependent variations in neural oscillations. Notably, delta-band (1-4 Hz) power demonstrated the highest magnitude during visual-vestibular conflict and the lowest during congruent stimulation. Direction-specific effects were observed, with significant differences in delta and alpha band power between forward and backward motion, particularly in the central (Cz) and right occipital (O2) regions. These findings suggest that EEG spectral signatures may serve as objective indicators of sensory conflict during motion, potentially informing early detection strategies and therapeutic interventions for motion sickness.
Yue Wei, Xinjia Chen
Open Access
Article
Conference Proceedings