Unobtrusive EEG measures of an oddball paradigm in flight simulator and real flight conditions: A case study

Piloting aircraft is a demanding task in a dynamic, uncertain environment 1. Attention distribution is a key issue for piloting, relying on a tradeoff between focused and divided attention (i.e., avoiding distraction or detecting changes). Their homeostasis may be dismissed when demand exceeds mental capacity, canceling out the processing of incoming stimuli (e.g. auditory alarms). For instance, accidents analyses disclosed evidences of inattentional deafness in which pilots failed to respond to critical auditory warnings. Experiments in flight simulators [2] and real-flight conditions [3] demonstrated the possibility of implementing an electro-encephalography (EEG)-based brain-computer interface to detect and predict the likelihood of this phenomenon. Yet, these experiments used bulky systems uncomfortable to wear over long periods of time. New portable EEG systems offer a promising avenue for implementing neuroadaptive technologies in real world settings [3]. To benchmark these systems under ecological settings, we conducted a study in simulated and real flight conditions while recording the participant’s brain activity with the cEEGrid system (TMSi, Oldenzaal, Netherlands [4])

Hyperscan Project: investigate the physiological and neural markers of teammates cooperation

Servicemen are now by far engaged in complex operations involving cooperation with multiple actors and specialists under time pressure in uncertain and highly dynamic hostile environments. Moreover, military operators will be more likely to interact with advanced artificial intelligence (AI) based technology. There is a need to implement monitoring solutions to objectively assess the efficiency of human-human and human-AI teaming on the battlefield. The Hyperscan research project forms part of this perspective and aims to investigate the physiological and neural markers of cooperation between human teammates and as well as between humans and artificial agents

AI can fool us humans, but not at the psycho-physiological level: a hyperscanning and physiological synchrony study

This study aims at investigating the neural and physiological correlates of human-human and human-AI interactions under ecological settings. We designed a scenario in which a ground controller had to guide his/her pilot to reach a location. We also implemented a Controller-Bot and a Pilot-Bot using AI techniques to behave like real human operators. The cooperation between controllers and pilots were either genuine (‘Coop scenarios’ – four missions), explicitly notified as pilot-Bot and controller-Bot interactions (‘No coop scenarios’ – two missions), or with no notification that they were actually collaborating with their AI counterparts (‘fake coop scenarios’ – two missions). Sixteen participants (8 dyads) equipped with EEG and ECG took part in this experiment. Our findings disclosed that Human-Human dyads exhibited similar performance to Human-Bots dyads whether the human participants were aware that they were playing with a bot or not. Our participants declared that they did not realize they were playing with an AI in the fake cooperation condition. These findings indicate that 1) humans can be fooled by AI, and that 2) humans can behave in a natural way with AI. Interestingly enough, our analyses revealed that the cardiac activity of controllers and pilots was more synchronized when they were collaborating together than when they were playing with AI (being aware or not). Similarly, EEG analyses disclosed a higher cerebral efficiency and connectivity between the two brains when teammates were interacting together than when cooperating with AI

Analysis of Virion Structural Components Reveals Vestiges of the Ancestral Ichnovirus Genome

Many thousands of endoparasitic wasp species are known to inject polydnavirus (PDV) particles into their caterpillar host during oviposition, causing immune and developmental dysfunctions that benefit the wasp larva. PDVs associated with braconid and ichneumonid wasps, bracoviruses and ichnoviruses respectively, both deliver multiple circular dsDNA molecules to the caterpillar. These molecules contain virulence genes but lack core genes typically involved in particle production. This is not completely unexpected given that no PDV replication takes place in the caterpillar. Particle production is confined to the wasp ovary where viral DNAs are generated from proviral copies maintained within the wasp genome. We recently showed that the genes involved in bracovirus particle production reside within the wasp genome and are related to nudiviruses. In the present work we characterized genes involved in ichnovirus particle production by analyzing the components of purified Hyposoter didymator Ichnovirus particles by LC-MS/MS and studying their organization in the wasp genome. Their products are conserved among ichnovirus-associated wasps and constitute a specific set of proteins in the virosphere. Strikingly, these genes are clustered in specialized regions of the wasp genome which are amplified along with proviral DNA during virus particle replication, but are not packaged in the particles. Clearly our results show that ichnoviruses and bracoviruses particles originated from different viral entities, thus providing an example of convergent evolution where two groups of wasps have independently domesticated viruses to deliver genes into their hosts

Linking a European cohort of children born with congenital anomalies to vital statistics and mortality records: A EUROlinkCAT study.

EUROCAT is a European network of population-based congenital anomaly (CA) registries. Twenty-one registries agreed to participate in the EUROlinkCAT study to determine if reliable information on the survival of children born with a major CA between 1995 and 2014 can be obtained through linkage to national vital statistics or mortality records. Live birth children with a CA could be linked using personal identifiers to either their national vital statistics (including birth records, death records, hospital records) or to mortality records only, depending on the data available within each region. In total, 18 of 21 registries with data on 192,862 children born with congenital anomalies participated in the study. One registry was unable to get ethical approval to participate and linkage was not possible for two registries due to local reasons. Eleven registries linked to vital statistics and seven registries linked to mortality records only; one of the latter only had identification numbers for 78% of cases, hence it was excluded from further analysis. For registries linking to vital statistics: six linked over 95% of their cases for all years and five were unable to link at least 85% of all live born CA children in the earlier years of the study. No estimate of linkage success could be calculated for registries linking to mortality records. Irrespective of linkage method, deaths that occurred during the first week of life were over three times less likely to be linked compared to deaths occurring after the first week of life. Linkage to vital statistics can provide accurate estimates of survival of children with CAs in some European countries. Bias arises when linkage is not successful, as early neonatal deaths were less likely to be linked. Linkage to mortality records only cannot be recommended, as linkage quality, and hence bias, cannot be assessed

Ecological measures of cognitive impairments in aeronautics: theory and application

The objective of this chapter is to focus on the use of unobtrusive easy-to-use electrophysiological systems for neuroergonomic research. In a first section, we describe the challenges and limits related to the use of such systems. Electrode localization and signal processing solutions are then proposed to overcome some of the raised issues. In a second section, we explore the feasibility to measure pilots’ auditory attention in a flight simulator using an unobtrusive EEG system [1] on a small number of participants. This study aims at measuring the cerebral activity associated with inattentional deafness in an ecological context with varying degrees of workload. The end goal was to assess the possibilities of such a system to be transferred to real-flight conditions. Our results illustrate this paradox: we were able to reproduce some of the results observed in the literature, but we also faced difficulties in terms of signal processing and measure identifications. We show that despite the lower signal-to-noise ratio observed with this kind of devices, we are able to detect event-related potentials (ERPs) and frequency features. In a last part we discuss our results with regards to Neuroadaptive Systems challenges, and how we were able to overcome some of the current limits in neuroergonomics

Forfait obstétrical et inégalités dans l'accès aux soins maternels en Mauritanie

International audienc

Open EEG Datasets for Passive Brain-Computer Interface Applications: Lacks and Perspectives

With the advent of open science, a growing number of researchers have been sharing their datasets and processing methods. Yet not all fields are concerned and some still lack open databases which would enable faster, more relevant research, and more importantly favour replicability and reproducibility of results. This is particularly true for the field of brain-computer interfaces, and most especially for that of the relatively new field of passive brain-computer interfaces. This article provides an overview of the currently available datasets for passive brain-computer interface applications based on electroencephalography. Their main characteristics are detailed, including the number of participants, tasks, electrode setups and electrode location information. Lacks are highlighted and discussed, and recommendations are given for future studies

Respiratory morbidity in children with congenital heart disease.

To evaluate the respiratory outcome in children with congenital heart disease (CHD), considering recent management procedures and the CHD pathophysiology. Clinical and functional respiratory outcome were evaluated in 8-year-old children with isolated CHD followed up from birth in the prospective population-based EPICARD cohort. Children were assigned to two groups, based on the pathophysiology of the CHD: CHDs with left-to-right shunt (n = 212) and CHDs with right outflow tract obstruction (n = 113). Current wheezing episodes were observed in 15% of the children with isolated CHD and left-to-right shunt, and 11% of the children with isolated CHD and right outflow tract obstruction (not significant). Total lung capacity (TLC) was the only respiratory function parameter that significantly differed between the two groups. It was lower in children with left-to-right shunt (88.72 ± 0.65% predicted) than in those with right outflow tract obstruction (91.84 ± 0.96, p = 0.006). In multivariate analysis, CHD with left-to-right shunt (coeff. [95% CI]: -3.17 [-5.45; -0.89]) and surgery before the age of 2 months (-6.52 [-10.90; -2.15]) were identified as independent factors associated with significantly lower TLC values. Lower TLC remains a long-term complication in CHD, particularly in cases with left-to-right shunt and in patients requiring early repair. These findings suggest that an increase in pulmonary blood flow may directly impair lung development