Do We Need Biomedical Interventions to Maintain Crew Performance under Sustained Attention?

Advanced technology being introduced into Army aviation platforms may place aviators at an increased risk for performance decrements due to the increased need to maintain vigilance. One method of offsetting potential performance decrements is the introduction of biomedical interventions, in this case, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). To assess the utility of tDCS in maintaining performance, two groups of aviators performed two separate long-duration flights requiring sustained attention. One group received tDCS prior to the flight, while the other group received tDCS during the flight. Flight performance and secondary task performance measures were collected throughout the duration of both flights. A total of 8 Army aviators participated in the study to-date. No significant differences between groups were identified, although some trends in the data were noted. It is likely that the study was underpowered and thus unable to detect any differences between groups.