The Neural Underpinnings of Emotional Conflict Control in Pilots

Abstract

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.

Examining the reliability of the emotional conflict resolution and adaptation effects in the emotional conflict task via secondary data analysis, systematic review, and meta-analysis.

“…Steinhauser et al (2016) found that the emotional conflict adaptation effect was only present if the previous response conflict was low; however, no overall effect was established. Jiang et al (2020), Hua et al (2021), Gold et al (2015), and Krug and Carter (2012) did not find a significant conflict adaptation effect in reaction time outcome measures. In contrast, Jarcho et al (2013), Irmen et al (2017), Chechko et al (2014), O.…”

“…Jiang et al (2020),Hua et al (2021),Gold et al (2015), andKrug and Carter (2012) did not find a significant conflict adaptation effect in reaction time outcome measures. In contrast, Jarcho et al (2013), Irmen et al (2017), Chechko et al (2014), O. J. Robinson et al (2011), A. Robinson et al (2015), Favre et al (2015), Maier and di Pellegrino (2012), Kar et al (2018), and Jeong and Cho (2021) reported a significant emotional conflict adaptation (resolution for Favre et al and Jeong and Cho) effect in behavioral response time data, however, Jeong and Cho only found this effect in low anxiety individuals in a safe context.…”

Trait emotional intelligence in American pilots

“…Gao and Kong 15 conducted a study of personality types among Australian college students and found that pilot students in that sample had lower Neuroticism scores than non-pilot peers, a noticeable benefit for a role often requiring the ability to manage high stress effectively. Additionally, a recent neurological study indicated that the neural mechanisms for handling emotional conflict differ between pilots and non-pilots with the former showing higher emotional stability than the general population, as might be expected from a profession that requires affective control and focus 17 .…”