Development of a User Interface for the PVT SelfTest (PST)

The overarching goal of the project is to provide a brief, validated, zero upmass, performance test to provide astronauts with immediate feedback about cognitive deficits caused by a variety of factors in space flight (e.g., sleep loss, sleep shifts, medication use). Substantial progress has been made on developing astronaut norms based on N=241 PVT SelfTest trials acquired on 11 astronauts (aquanauts) and other crew acquired in NEEMO 9, NEEMO 12, and NEEMO 13. Significant advances were made in the development of an algorithm that calculates a numerical performance index to provide astronauts with feedback about their PVT SelfTest performance that is both informative about the test performance and about the validity of the test. Prototype data interpretation displays were generated that varied both the type of performance information displayed and the method of display (e.g., numerical, graphical). The performance feedback algorithm and display were programmed into the current Windows PVT SelfTest architecture by Pulsar Informatics Inc. A demonstration version of full PVT SelfTest including performance feedback algorithm and display was generated for evaluation by NEEMO astronauts for refinement and preparation for validation on ISS.