Cognitive Neurophysiologic Synchronies: What Can They Contribute to the Study of Teamwork?

Objective: Cognitive neurophysiologic synchronies (NS) are low-level data streams derived from electroencephalography (EEG) measurements that can be collected and analyzed in near real time and in realistic settings. The objective of this study was to relate the expression of NS for engagement to the frequency of conversation between team members during Submarine Piloting and Navigation (SPAN) simulations. Background: If the expression of different NS patterns is sensitive to changes in the behavior of teams, they may be a useful tool for studying team cognition. Method: EEG-derived measures of engagement (EEG-E) from SPAN team members were normalized and pattern classified by self-organizing artificial neural networks and hidden Markov models. The temporal expression of these patterns was mapped onto team events and related to the frequency of team members' speech. Standardized models were created with pooled data from multiple teams to facilitate comparisons across teams and levels of expertise and to provide a framework for rapid monitoring of team performance. Results: The NS expression for engagement shifted across task segments and internal and external task changes. These changes occurred within seconds and were affected more by changes in the task than by the person speaking. Shannon entropy measures of the NS data stream showed decreases associated with periods when the team was stressed and speaker entropy was high. Conclusion: These studies indicate that expression of neurophysiologic indicators measured by EEG may complement rather than duplicate communication metrics as measures of team cognition. Application: Neurophysiologic approaches may facilitate the rapid determination of the cognitive status of a team and support the development of novel adaptive approaches to optimize team function.