Human Performance Division, Finnish Defence Research Agency, Tuusula, Finland.
Int J Circumpolar Health. 2023 Dec;82(1):2225896. doi: 10.1080/22423982.2023.2225896.
The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of a winter military field training course consisting of strenuous physical stressors (e.g. physical activity, sleep deprivation and cold weather) on cognitive performance among Finnish soldiers. Fifty-eight (age 19 ± 1 years, height 182 ± 6 cm, body mass 78.5 ± 7.2 kg) male soldiers took part in a 20-day military field training course in northern Finland. Cognitive performance was assessed before, during, and after the course four times on a tablet computer. Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART) was used to assess soldier's executive and inhibitory function. Baddeley's 3-min reasoning task (BRT) was used to assess grammatical reasoning, and Change Blindness (CB) task was used to assess visual perception. Strenuous winter field training had detrimental effects in all performance tests compared to baseline. SART response rate decreased 27.3% ( < 0.001), and BRT and CB task scores decreased 20.6% ( < 0.01) and 14.1% ( < .05), respectively. The present study showed a decline in soldier's cognitive performance after 20-days of physically demanding winter military field training. To be able to optimise field training, it is important to be aware of how cognitive performance changes during military exercises and missions.
本研究旨在探讨冬季军事野外训练课程对芬兰士兵认知表现的影响。该课程包括剧烈的体力应激因素（如体力活动、睡眠剥夺和寒冷天气）。58 名（年龄 19±1 岁，身高 182±6 厘米，体重 78.5±7.2 公斤）男性士兵参加了在芬兰北部进行的为期 20 天的军事野外训练课程。在平板电脑上四次评估了课程前后的认知表现。持续注意力反应任务（SART）用于评估士兵的执行和抑制功能。巴德利的 3 分钟推理任务（BRT）用于评估语法推理，而变化盲（CB）任务用于评估视觉感知。与基线相比，剧烈的冬季野外训练对所有表现测试都产生了不利影响。SART 反应率下降了 27.3%（<0.001），BRT 和 CB 任务得分分别下降了 20.6%（<0.01）和 14.1%（<0.05）。本研究表明，经过 20 天高强度的冬季军事野外训练后，士兵的认知表现下降。为了能够优化野外训练，了解认知表现在军事演习和任务中的变化非常重要。
