Influence of Physical Factors of the Natural Environment on Cognitive Functions and Physiological Adaptation Mechanisms of Cadets at a Naval Institute

This research is aimed at studying the effect of physical factors of the natural environmental on the cognitive functions and physiological adaptation mechanisms of cadets at a naval institute with preuniversity military training experience. The test sample includes 42 freshman cadets at the Military Training and Research Center at the Naval Academy. Electroencephalography, analysis of heart rate variability (HRV), and finger photoplethysmography were used simultaneously with psychophysiological tests. The cadets were examined in the fall in the first semester of their first year of education. It is established that the increase in the class A X-ray background radiation positively correlates with the efficiency of spatial orientation. The slightly increased solar activity increases the efficiency of selective attention, verbal-logical thinking and short-term memory, and provokes an increase in the bioelectric activity of the sensorimotor cortex in the left hemisphere of the brain. Simultaneously, there is a decrease in the activity in the sensorimotor cortex of the right hemisphere correlating with the increased electron stream of more than 2 MeV and at lower atmospheric air temperatures. The increased atmospheric pressure, solar and geomagnetic activity, and the decrease in the energy of cosmic rays are accompanied by reduced HRV and higher loading of adaptation mechanisms in performing all cognitive tasks. The increased proton stream of more than 10 MeV positively correlates with the vascular tone in the state of relative quiescence. The increase in class A X-ray background radiation correlates with the decrease in the vascular tone when performing sensorimotor tasks of tracking moving objects.