Variation of technological adaptability evaluated by the performance and brain hemodynamics measurement

This paper investigates the applicability of cerebral blood flow in evaluating the technological adaptability for operating industrial products. The procedure of the experiment was explained to the subjects and informed consent was obtained from them. Twenty male and twenty female subjects (19-22 yrs) operated the destination setting task of a car navigation system. Subjects were divided into two sub groups to operate tasks of model A and model B of a car navigation system. Operation time of tasks and cerebral blood flow of frontal region were measured during tasks. Non-invasive measuring of regional cerebral blood flow was estimated by measuring deoxygenated hemoglobin, oxygenated hemoglobin, and total haemoglobin using the time resolved spectroscopy (TRS). Females were faster than males in operating the task of setting the destination searched by street address. Total haemoglobin of male subjects was significantly higher than that of females during resting and tasks. Changes of cerebral blood flow were observed during operating a car navigation system. In this paper we discussed the possibility of physiological evaluation for technological adaptability by means of the performance and brain hemodynamics measurement.