Neuroscience study uncovers unique brainwave patterns in
pilots
Viewing landing scenes appears to activate the "Mirror
Neuron" system in pilots more than it does in non-pilots, according to
preliminary research published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience.
The
"Mirror Neuron" system is a network of neurons that are activated both during a
motor action and also when observing a similar action performed by another
person.
In the study, 9 pilots and 8 individuals with no piloting
experience viewed landing scenes as researchers monitored their electrical brain
activity. The scenes were viewed from the perspective of the cockpit, and the
participants were asked to gauge the distance of the runway number.
"The
use of a simple distance estimation task enabled us to easily include in the
study a non-expert population to be compared with pilots, avoiding the potential
complications that may arise from including technical flight-related aspects in
the task," the researchers explained.
The researchers observed
differences between pilots and non-pilots in mu rhythm brainwaves. Mu brainwave
patterns are considered a marker of Mirror Neuron system activity because they
are suppressed whenever a person performs an action and they are also suppressed
when a person observes someone else performing an action.
Pilots tended
to have increased mu suppression when observing the landing scenes, indicating
greater activation of the Mirror Neuron system.
But what is the
significance of increased mirror neuron activation among pilots? As the
researchers explain in their study, the findings suggests that the brains of
pilots process aircraft as "a sort of extension of a pilot's body." Observing an
aircraft landing might be like observing someone trying to reach for an object -
in this case, "reaching" for a runway.
"Critically, in a landing task,
the angle-under-the-horizon has the functional property to express the location
of an aircraft in terms of glide angle to a specific point on the ground. This
importantly, allows the pilot to directly differentiate between locations on the
ground that are within the glide range and that can hence be reached with the
airplane, from those that are outside the glide range, that are hence
unreachable," the researchers wrote.
"It follows that for a pilot, a
seemingly perceptual task such as distance judgment is framed in terms of the
action capabilities of an aircraft (e.g., the glide angle)... However, in the
case of aviation, the action capabilities of the aircraft would not be generally
experienced by most humans."
The study, "Investigating Neural
Sensorimotor Mechanisms Underlying Flight Expertise in Pilots: Preliminary Data
From an EEG Study", was authored by Mariateresa Sestito, Assaf Harel, Jeff
Nador, and John Flach.
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