Influences of age, mental workload, and flight experience on cognitive performance and prefrontal activity in private pilots: a fNIRS study

Abstract

The effects of aging on cognitive performance must be better understood, especially to protect older individuals who are engaged in risky activities (e.g. aviation). Current literature on executive functions suggests that brain compensatory mechanisms may counter cognitive deterioration due to aging, at least up to certain task load levels. The present study assesses this hypothesis in private pilots engaged in two executive tasks from the standardized CANTAB battery, namely Spatial Working Memory (SWM) and One Touch Stockings of Cambridge (OTS). Sixty-one pilots from three age groups (young, middle-aged, older) performed these two tasks from low to very high difficulty levels, beyond those reported in previous aging studies. A fNIRS headband measured changes in oxyhemoglobin (HbO2) in the prefrontal cortex. Results confirmed an overall effect of the difficulty level in the three age groups, with a decline in task performance and an increase in prefrontal HbO2 signal. Performance of older relative to younger pilots was impaired in both tasks, with the greatest impairment observed for the highest-load Spatial Working Memory task. Consistent with this behavioral deficit in older pilots, a plateau of prefrontal activity was observed at this highest-load level, suggesting that a ceiling in neural resources was reached. When behavioral performance was either equivalent between age groups or only slightly impaired in the older group, there were not any age-related differences in prefrontal activity. Finally, older pilots with extensive flying experience tend to show better preserved spatial working memory performance when compared to mildly-experienced of the same age group. The present findings are discussed in the frames of HAROLD and CRUNCH theoretical models of cognitive and neural aging, evoking the possibility that piloting expertise may contribute to preserve executive functions throughout adulthood.

Prefrontal Cortex Activity During Walking: Effects of Aging and Associations With Gait and Executive Function

“…As task demand increases, a resource ceiling can be reached, leading to insufficient processing and decreased task performance. 38 We propose that older adults in G70 already (or nearly) reached the resource ceiling during usual walking-as they did not show increased prefrontal activity relative to younger groups and had reduced step length. Because they did not have more executive resources available, the increase in executive load (caused by planning the obstacle crossing and performing a secondary concomitant task) led to additional gait impairment (ie, increased step length variability).…”

Travel planning in men and women. Who is better?

“…Gender is also one of the many internal factors that influence the ability to orient oneself in the environment (e.g., Lopez, Postma, & Bosco, 2020;Causse, Chua, & Rémy, 2019;Nori, Grandicelli, & Giusberti, 2009;Nori et al, 2018;León, Tascón, & Cimadevilla, 2016;Lawton, 2010;Montello & Sas, 2006). Specifically, if compared to women, men are better at reading maps, mentally transforming environmental information, and estimating distances (e.g., Lawton, 2010).…”

An ERP Study to Investigate Age-Related Differences in Sensory Gating and Auditory Processing

“…However, it was demonstrated that this over-activation quickly reaches a threshold during easy workload tasks (Causse, et al, 2019). The CRUNCH model predicts that as task load increases, older adults compensate through over-activation during lower workloads of activity relative to younger adults.…”

“…The CRUNCH model predicts that as task load increases, older adults compensate through over-activation during lower workloads of activity relative to younger adults. Older adults then experience an under-activation during hard workload due to quickly reaching a resource ceiling (Causse, et al, 2019).…”

“…Observing attenuated responses to auditory information during easy workload for older adults suggests that older adults could be over-recruiting neurological resources in order to perform well on the visual task, which leaves fewer processing resources for auditory information; hence the observed differences in P200 sensory gating between age groups and longer response times during hard workload for older adults. (Causse, Chua, Remy, 2019;Piefke, Onur, & Fink, 2012).…”