Aging effects on brain efficiency in general aviation pilots

Abstract

Understanding the effect of aging on brain efficiency and executive functions is important for high risk activities such as general aviation. In this study, ten private pilots in the age group 19-25 and ten in the 52-72 range completed the spatial working memory (SWM) and spatial planning and reasoning (One Touch Stockings, OTS) from the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery. The change in deoxygenated and oxygenated hemoglobin (HbO2) was measured. Younger pilots were found to be more efficient in the SWM task than the older group, with a smaller change in HbO2 and greater performance gain. However, aging has no significant effect on the OTS task efficiency, with both groups performing equally well. Analysis also suggests that there may be an effect on change in HbO2 due to flight hours.