Psychophysiological Monitorization in a Special Operation Selection Course

Abstract

The present research aimed: i. to analyse the psychophysiological response of soldiers undertaking a special operation selection course; ii. to study the relationship between fat and muscle loss and the psychophysiological response of soldiers undertaking a special operation selection course. We analysed 46 professional soldiers from a special operations unit (25.1 ± 5.0 years, 1.8 ± 0.1 cm, 76.8 ± 7.9 kg, 24.4 ± 2.5 kg/m2) undertaking the last phase of their 10 weeks special operation selection course. Before and immediately after the exercise the following variables were assessed: Stress subjective perception, fatigue subjective perception, rating of perceived perception, cortical arousal, body temperature, blood oxygen saturation, spirometry, isometric hand strength, lower body muscular strength, urine, body composition, life engagement test, coping flexibility scale, acceptance and action questionnaire, perceived stress scale, anxiety state, visual analogue scale and differential aptitude test. A special operation selection course induced an intense stress and physical response as suggested by the psychophysiological changes with a significant (p < 0.05) increase in fatigue and stress subjective perception, blood oxygen saturation, Ph, cognitive impairment and motivation-loss. Moreover, decreased leg strength, peak expiratory flow, cortical arousal, body composition, body weight, fat and muscle mass, anxiety stress, alertness, sadness and tension decreased after the exercise. Regarding body composition, higher muscle mass loss participants were related to a higher cognitive impairment and similar psychophysiological response than lower fat mass loss participants.

Psychophysiological Stress Response in an Underwater Evacuation Training

“…This result highlighted the lower cardiovascular requirements of underwater evacuation training, but we have to take in account the bradycardia effect of cold-water exposure, a fact that could interfere in the cardiovascular response, causing it to be lower than that in other military maneuvers [30]. The cardiovascular response was more related with that obtained in normobaric hypoxia training in military aircrews, helicopter aircrew in night and instrument flights, or fighter reactor pilots in combat flying maneuvers, probably due to the lower muscular requirements of the first one and the influence of G forces in the second one, factors that made possible a cardiovascular response similar to the one evaluated in the present research [11,13,31]. The average HR evaluated was consistent with an aerobic physical activity workload, presenting some demanding moments (as we show in maximal HR) where anaerobic demands increase due to the high and intense demands of the different activities carried out in the underwater training [32][33][34].…”

“…A pre-post intervention was conducted analyzing the following psychological and physiological variables previous to and immediately after an underwater evacuation training. Stress subjective perception (SSP) on a 1-100 scale [11].…”

“…Specifically in air force crews, previous research found how exposure to normobaric hypoxia training produced psychophysiological changes in sympathetic nervous system modulation, cortical arousal levels, and increments in stress hormones such as cortisol and testosterone levels among others [3,[10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]. In this line, research on paratrooper also showed how high-altitude jumps (High Altitude Low Opening and High Altitude High Opening) produced an increase in the physiological response and sympathetic modulation in both jumps, according to the stress responses theory exposed by Selye [18], and a decrease in cortical arousal, which is a symptom of central nervous system (CNS) fatigue only in the HAHO jump, showing that both types of jumps are stressful stimuli for the paratroopers; besides, tactical automatic parachute jumps produced an increase in cortisol hormone production that is related with the activation of the fight-flight response that increases the sympathetic autonomic modulation [14,[17][18][19].…”

“…Short-term memory (ST-M). A three digit number was shown to the participants for 1 s. After 5 s, they were asked to remember the number and to say it backward [11].…”

Pacing and Performance Analysis of the World’s Fastest Female Ultra-Triathlete in 5x and 10x Ironman

“…In contrast, running limited the ingestion of both hydration and food supplies (vertical movements of centre of gravity, impact, movements) [19], fact that could modified the energy input necessary to maintain a steady pace during the race. Taking into account research in extreme environments, strenuous activities during various days could negatively affect cortical arousal, decreasing the information processing, hydration perception and rated of perceived exertion of the subjects [20]. This fact could also negatively affect operative pace control, increasing the coefficient of variation in the running segment.…”