TOWARDS MEASUREMENT OF BRAIN-FUNCTION IN OPERATIONAL ENVIRONMENTS

In operational environments that demand sustained vigilance or that in volve multiple tasks competing for limited attentional resources, cont inuous monitoring of the mental state of the operator could decrease t he potential for serious errors and provide valuable information conce rning the ergonomics of the tasks being performed. There is widespread discussion and appreciation of the basic feasibility of utilizing neu rophysiological measurements to derive accurate, reliable, rapid and u nobtrusive assessments of mental state. However, progress in transitio ning this idea into practical applications has been impeded by the fac t that at present no convenient, inexpensive and effective means exist s to derive a meaningful index of brain activity outside of laboratory settings. In this paper, we review some recent advances in recording technology and signal processing methods that will help overcome this limitation. For example, rapid progress is being made in the engineeri ng of recording systems that are small, rugged, portable and easy-to-u se, and thus suitable for deployment in operational environments. Prog ress is also being made in the development of signal processing algori thms for detecting and correcting recording artifacts and for increasi ng the amount of useful information that can be derived from brain sig nals. Finally, results from basic research studies suggest that accura te and reliable inferences about the mental load and alertness of an i ndividual can be derived from neurophysiological measures in a practic al fashion. These research and engineering successes suggest that it i s reasonable to expect that in the near term a basic enabling technolo gy will be deployed that will permit routine measurement of brain func tion in operational environments.