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Cardiovascular Biomarkers' Inherent Timescales in Mental Workload Assessment During Simulated Air Traffic Control
Thea Radüntz1, Thorsten Mühlhausen2, Marion Freyer3
1Unit Mental Health and Cognitive Capacity, Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Nöldnerstr. 40-42, 10317, Berlin, Germany. raduentz.thea@baua.bund.de.
Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback
|October 4, 2020
Summary
This study reveals that different cardiovascular biomarkers, like heart rate and heart rate variability, have unique timescales for measuring mental workload in air traffic controllers. Understanding these timescales improves workload assessment and reveals experience-related differences.
Area of Science:
- Ergonomics and Human Factors
- Cardiovascular Physiology
- Occupational Health
Background:
- Assessing mental workload is crucial in ergonomics and human-factors research.
- Heart rate and heart rate variability are common but often dissociated measures of mental workload.
- Individual differences and the inherent timescales of biomarkers may explain measure dissociation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if different cardiovascular biomarkers exhibit distinct timescales.
- To determine the ability of these biomarkers to differentiate workload levels in air traffic controllers.
- To explore the influence of work experience and time slots on biomarker responses.
Main Methods:
- Utilized an interactive real-time simulation for air traffic controllers.
- Manipulated workload by varying traffic volume and priority-flight requests.
- Measured mental workload using heart rate and heart rate variability across different time slots.
Main Results:
- All tested cardiovascular biomarkers were sensitive to workload variations and displayed different inherent timescales.
- Heart rate responded more rapidly than frequency-domain heart rate variability features.
- Consideration of timescales revealed significant effects of work experience on specific heart rate and heart rate variability parameters.
Conclusions:
- Cardiovascular biomarkers possess distinct inherent timescales crucial for accurate mental workload assessment.
- The temporal dynamics of heart rate and heart rate variability differ, impacting their sensitivity to workload changes.
- Accounting for these timescales enhances the understanding of individual differences, such as work experience, in response to mental workload.
