Study and Implementation of Advanced Neuroergonomic Techniques

Abstract

Research in the area of neuroergonomics has blossomed in recent years with the emergence of noninvasive techniques for monitoring human brain function that can be used to study various aspects of human behavior in relation to technology and work, including mental workload, visual attention, working memory, motor control, human-automation interaction, and adaptive automation. Consequently, this interdisciplinary field is concerned with investigations of the neural bases of human perception,cognition, and performance in relation to systems and technologies in the real world -- for example, in the use of computers and various other machines at home or in the workplace, and in operating vehiclessuch as aircraft, cars, trains, and ships. We will look at recent trends in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), with a special focus on the questions that have been addressed. This focus is particularly important for functional neuroimaging, whose contributions will be measured by the depth of the questions asked. The ever-increasing understanding of the brain and behavior at work in the real world, the development of theoretical underpinnings, and the relentless spread of facilitative technology in the West and abroad are inexorably broadening the substrates for this interdisciplinary area of research and practice. Neuroergonomics blends neuroscience and ergonomics to the mutual benefit of both fields, and extends the study of brain structure and function beyond the contrived laboratory settings often used in neuropsychological, psychophysical, cognitive science, and other neurosciencerelated fields. Neuroergonomics is providing rich observations of the brain and behavior at work, at home, in transportation, and in other everyday environments in human operators who see, hear, feel, attend, remember, decide, plan, act, move, or manipulate objects among other people and technology in diverse,real-world settings. The neuroergonomics approach is allowing researchers to ask different questions and develop new explanatory frameworks about humans at work in the real world and in relation to modern automated systems and machines, drawing from principles of neuropsychology, psychophysics, neurophysiology, and anatomy at neuronal and systems levels. The neuroergonomics approach allows researchers to ask different questions and develop new explanatory frameworks about humans at work in the real world and in relation to modern automated systems and machines. Better understanding of brainfunction can, for example, provide important guidelines and constraints for theories of information presentation and task design, optimization of alerting and warning signals, development of neural prostheses, and the design of robots. As an interdisciplinary endeavor, neuroergonomics will continue to benefit from and grow alongside developments in neuroscience, psychology,