To examine the effect of sleep deprivation(SD) on eye movement behavior in flight task,four subjects who were skilled in flight simulator participated in the experiment,which were asked to perform a level flight task in a flight simulator.Eye movement data and flight performance data were measured at the following hours:11:00,15:00,04:00,11:00,15:00.The subjects workload and fatigue were assessed with the method of national aeronautics and space administration-task load index(NASA-TLX) and rating of perceived exertion(RPE).Eye movement indices of average pupil area,average saccade amplitude and average saccade velocity decreased during the 32 h of SD and they all showed significantly change in the final SD while the index of average fixation time increased in the final SD.Flight performance deteriorated during the 32 h of SD,but not significantly.The feeling of fatigue and workload reported by subjects both increased during the 32 h of SD.Daily rhythm effects on the measured indices were also found,there were a obviously change at the hour of 04:00.32 h of SD has obvious effect on eye movement behaviors which have close relation to fatigue because of SD.The eye movement measurement can be served as a tool to continually monitor fatigue online.
