Background: Airlines occupy an increasingly important place in the economy of many countries. Because air disasters may cause substantial losses, comprehensive surveys of the psychophysiological mechanism of flying are needed; however, relatively few studies have focused on pilots. The default mode network (DMN) is an important intrinsic connectivity network involved in a range of functions related to flying. This study aimed to examine functional properties of the DMN in pilots. Method: Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data from 26 pilots and 24 controls were collected. Independent component analysis, a data-driven approach, was combined with functional connectivity analysis to investigate functional properties of the DMN in pilots. Results: The pilot group exhibited increased functional integration in the precuneus/posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and left middle occipital gyrus. Subsequent functional connectivity analysis identified enhanced functional connection between the precuneus/PCC and medial superior frontal gyrus. Conclusion: The pilot group exhibited increased functional connections within the DMN. These findings highlight the importance of the DMN in the neurophysiological mechanism of flying.

BACKGROUND: Piloting an aircraft is a complex cognitive task. Human error represents a major contributing factor in aviation accidents. Emotion plays an important role in aviation safety. We performed a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study to explore whether pilots and nonpilots may differ in the neural mechanisms responsible for the processing of conflict emotional information.METHODS: A total of 27 civil aviation pilots and 24 nonpilot controls performed the emotional Stroop task, in which participants were required to identify the facial expressions of the stimuli while ignoring the congruent or incongruent emotional words superimposed on the faces. Neural responses to the stimuli were compared between pilots and controls. Also, a psychophysiological interaction (PPI) analysis was performed to explore whether there were differences in effective connectivity between pilots and nonpilots.RESULTS: Behavioral data showed that pilots (21.23 ms) and nonpilots (26.78 ms) had equivalent congruency effects. Nevertheless, their neural activation patterns differed. Compared with pilots, nonpilots exhibited neural activity in the right supramarginal gyrus when processing incongruent stimuli, and more regions were activated in the process of conflict monitoring. The PPI analysis showed greater activity between the right supramarginal gyrus and the right lingual gyrus when nonpilots confronted incongruent vs. congruent stimuli. However, this effective connectivity was not found in pilots.CONCLUSION: These results suggest different mechanisms underlying emotional conflict control between pilots and the general population.Jiang H, Xu K, Chen X, Wang Q, Yang Y, Fu C, Guo X, Chen X, Yang J. The neural underpinnings of emotional conflict control in pilots. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2020; 91(10):798805.

Civil aviation is a distinctive career. Pilots need to monitor the entire system in real time. However, the psychophysiological mechanism of flying is largely unknown. The human brain is a large-scale interconnected organization, and many stable intrinsic large-scale brain networks have been identified. Among them are three core neurocognitive networks: default mode network (DMN), central executive network (CEN), and salience network (SN). These three networks play a critical role in human cognition. This study aims to examine the dynamic properties of the three large-scale brain networks in civil aviation pilots. We collected resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data from pilots. Independent component analysis, which is a data-driven approach, was combined with sliding window dynamic functional connectivity analysis to detect the dynamic properties of large-scale brain networks. Our results revealed that pilots exhibit an increased interaction of the CEN with the DMN and the SN along with a decreased interaction within the CEN. In addition, the temporal properties of functional dynamics (number of transitions) increased in pilots compared to healthy controls. In general, pilots exhibited increased between-network functional connectivity, decreased within-network functional connectivity, and a higher number of transitions. These findings suggest that pilots might have better functional dynamics and cognitive flexibility.

With the continuing development of internet technologies, an increasing number of consumers want to customise the products they buy online. In order to explore the relationship between perception and purchase intent, a conceptual framework was developed that was based on the link between multisensory perception, positive emotions, and purchase intent in fashion e-customisation marketing. We discuss the outcomes derived from consumers’ experiences in fashion e-customisation and analyse the relationships between variables. Questionnaires were used to collect data for this quantitative study (n = 398 participants). The data was analysed using factor analysis, correlation analysis, and regression analysis. The findings contribute to the field of clothing e-customisation by identifying the effects of visual perception, haptic imagery, and auditory stimulation on arousal, and purchase intent. Visual perception and haptic imagery exerted a positive influence over dominance. We also identify the effects of arousal and dominance on purchase intent, and assess the mediating effects of these variables on visual perception, haptic mental imagery, and purchase intent. The results highlight how fashion e-customisation marketing strategies can be adopted by managers in order to increase positive emotions and how multisensory perception can potentially be used to influence consumers’ purchase behaviour.