近红外光谱技术在航空心理学研究中的应用与展望

The Application and Prospect of Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy in Aviation Psychology

功能性近红外光谱技术(functional near-infrared spectroscopy,fNIRS)可以连续、无创、便携地检测与人脑功能相关的血液动力学变化,使研究具有较好的生态效度,研究者利用血液动力学变化等信息推断飞行员在飞行场景下的认知状态。本文对相关研究的研究目的、研究任务、所用滤波和脑机接口的分类算法进行了系统性综述,在此基础上提出fNIRS应用于飞行员选拔与训练以及机组资源管理的方向性建议,以此推广fNIRS在航空心理学研究中的应用,最终直接或间接地服务于航空安全。

As the operational subject of aviation activities,the cognitive activity of pilots has a significant impact on flight safety.In decades,researchers are unable to obtain information about the neural activity of pilots during simulated or real flights efficiently because of the limitation of technology,which greatly hinders the understanding of the mental processing processes and the way pilots work.The development and application of functional near-infrared spectroscopy(fNIRS)provides a solution to this problem.It allows continuous,non-invasive,portable monitoring of hemodynamic changes associated with human brain function.Compared to the physical limitations of functional magnetic resonance imaging(fMRI)and the low spatial resolution of the electroencephalogram(EEG),the portability and hypersensitivity to the body movement of fNIRS makes it more suitable for detecting cortical hemodynamics during exercise tasks.The brain functional activation and functional connectivity states of pilots in different cognitive task demand states can be revealed through fNIRS to provide a realistic basis for neuroergonomics studies of flight safety,and provide valid physiological neurological indicators for identifying different cognitive states.To this end,this paper reviewed studies in aviation psychology applying fNIRS,and summarized some general findings that can provide reference and guidance for maintaining aviation safety.The aeropsychological studies applying fNIRS can be divided into three themes:(1)The usability studies of fNIRS in the assessment of brain activation patterns,which focus on mental load assessment and skill training assessment.The assessment of mental load refers to the detection of brain activation patterns under different task difficulties(i.e.,the examination of the similarities and differences of brain activation patterns under different mental loads),aiming to confirm the reliability of fNIRS in assessing mental load.The assessment of skill training refers to the use of fNIRS to measure the changes of brain activation patterns of individuals during the same training task and the differences of brain activation patterns of different individuals on the same training task.(2)The accuracy studies of fNIRS in brain activation pattern recognition.That is,using the neural signals evoked by the task as brain activation indicators,combined with specific statistical methods(e.g.,machine learning algorithms)to perform discriminative analysis at the individual level to correctly classify different mental loads.(3)The applicability study of fNIRS in special events,emphasizing the use of fNIRS to detect brain tissue blood oxygenation in pilots experiencing special events(e.g.,loss of consciousness under high+Gz)to reveal the neurophysiological mechanisms.With the widespread use of fNIRS,more relevant research can be conducted around pilots.It can be used in pilot selection and training,flight cockpit design,and crew cooperation.In addition,fNIRS also can be used to assess pilots'cognitive load states and mental fatigue as a staffing tool.When focusing on the impact of workload on individual performance,a pilot's emotional perceptions or preferences should be seriously considered.Typically,we monitor individual pilots'workload to measure the blood oxygern concentration changes in the prefrontal cortex,which is an important region that facilitates emotion regulation,in individual pilots.Functional neuroimaging of the prefrontal cortex has been applied to study the neural correlates of emotional processing.In terms of fNIRS device configuration,the addition of an emotional computing interface to the workload interface needs to be considered,so that the cognitive state of pilots can be monitored and identified in terms of both workload and emotional experience.In addition,passive brain-computer interface(pBCI)technology and multimodal technology can be applied in the future in real environments to assess the mental state of pilots and team resources in real flight and to dynamically plan programming pilots and automated interactions.Finally,in the future,fNIRS research should also focus on methodological advances(e.g.,signal quality control,motion artifact correction strategies,etc.),and standardization of the analysis process.On the one hand,it can provide guidance for future fNIRS studies on pilots;on the other hand,it can help promote the application of fNIRS in aviation psychology research,which ultimately serves aviation safety directly or indirectly.