Brain, gaze behavior and perceptual-cognitive skills in aviation: what is yet to be studied?

Perceptual-cognitive skills enable an individual to process and integrate environmental information with existing knowledge to execute appropriate responses in complex tasks. In aviation, optimal visual atten- tion allows pilots to extract the relevant information needed to underpin skilled decision making while flying the aircraft or while monitoring it’s automated flight computers. Findings from a recent study of our group suggested that experienced pilots show distinct gaze behavior and scanning patterns. This included shorter dwell times on instruments, more transitions between instruments, more fixations on task-relevant areas, and longer dwells on the areas between the instruments. These observations sug- gest that the long-term working memory theory and the information-reduction hypothesis are plausible mechanisms for superior perceptual cognitive skills. Here we highlight potential brain networks that may be involved in the formation of these skills. Specifically, the memory-related hippocampal network and the attention related fronto-parietal network.

Publication year:2020

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