Office of Aerospace Medicine Technical Reports

FAA Office of Aerospace Medicine
Civil Aerospace Medical Institute


Report No: DOT/FAA/AM-72/8

Title and Subtitle: Effects of backscatter of brief high-intensity light on physiological responses of instrument-rated pilots and non-pilots

Report Date: March 1972

Authors: Zeiner AR, Brecher GA

Abstract: Thirty-nine human subjects were exposed to reptitive backscatter light stimulation (off a white wall or fog) from a Grimes capacitance discharge airplane anticollision light flashing at 1.27 Hertz. Both tonic (light stimulus absent) and phasic (light stimulus present) stimulus-bound occipital EEG, heart rate, respiration, skin potentials, and eyeblinks were recorded. The results suggest that, although the flashing anticollision light induces changes in physiological measures which are resistant to habituation, these changes do not extend to the induction of nausea.

Key Words: Effects of Backscatter, EEG, Heart Rate, Respiration, Skin Potential, Eyeblinks, Anticollision Light, Visual perception

No. of Pages: 9

Last updated: Friday, June 1, 2012