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Functional magnetic resonance imaging of mental strategy in a simulated aviation performance task
M Pérès1, P F Van De Moortele, C Pierard
1Institut de Médecine Aérospatiale du Service de Santé des Armées, Brétigny-sur-Orge, France. mperes@imassa.fr
Background:
The objective of this study was to analyze the sensory and cognitive functions associated with activated brain regions characterizing mental strategy relative to degree of expertise in aviation-related tasks.
Methods:
We used echo-planar functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technique to examine brain activity in expert pilots (n = 6) compared with novice pilots (n = 6) during performance of a simulated aviation track-following task at 200 knots vs. 100 knots.
Results:
Expert pilots showed reduced activity in visual and motor regions that contrasted with predominant activation within anterior structures including the frontal and prefrontal cortices; structures involved in visual working memory, planning, selective attention and decision making functions. Novice pilots showed widespread activation of anterior and posterior brain structures, with a rise in activity in the visual, parietal and motor cortices as task difficulty increased.
Conclusions:
A high level of performance in the track-following task related to a high degree of expertise in the aviation field. This corresponded to experts performing perceptual and mnemonic processing through a network of specialized functions from visual through multiple prefrontal areas. By contrast, the novice pilots predominantly show activity associated with non-specific perceptual processing and without subsequent representation of selective information in working memory.