From Force Science Research Center:
18 May 07
Force Science News #72
May 18, 2007
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In this issue:
I. RESEARCHERS MOVE CLOSER TO EXPLAINING HIGH PERFORMANCE; NEW FSRC
STUDY HOPES TO IDENTIFY "BEST" TRAINING
II. STARTING SOON: ARTWOHL SERIES ON BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE ISSUES IN LAW
ENFORCEMENT
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I. RESEARCHERS MOVE CLOSER TO EXPLAINING HIGH PERFORMANCE; NEW FSRC
STUDY HOPES TO IDENTIFY "BEST" TRAINING
Researchers have now identified a specific brain chemical that appears
to influence how well you'll perform under stress and how emotionally
resilient you'll be after a critical incident. The more you have of this
powerful ingredient, called neuropeptide Y (NPY), the better off you'll
likely be when your life is on the line.
"Maybe somewhere down the road every officer before every shift will be
injected with NPY, as well as other neurochemicals that facilitate
performance," says Dr. Bill Lewinski, executive director of the Force
Science Research Center at Minnesota State University-Mankato. "But I
don't see that in the near future."
More immediately, in his opinion, scientists will work to unravel the
"nature vs. nurture" question-is the level of this valuable chemical
that is released in the brain during stress rigidly predetermined for
each individual or can it be altered by experience or behavioral methods?
Meanwhile, FSRC is seeking funding for a major study to determine, in
effect, which training techniques will most reliably produce NPY-like
benefits for officers, including better focus and skill utilization
during a crisis, less trauma afterward, and sharper memory of what
actually took place.
One recent NPY research project, conducted by Dr. Charles Morgan,
associate professor of psychiatry at Yale University, sought a better
understanding of "how we regulate fear and anxiety in our bodies,"
according to a report in Yale Scientific Magazine.
Morgan and colleagues tested NPY levels and cognitive functioning in
soldiers before, during, and after exposure to the stress of survival
training at Ft. Bragg, NC. They discovered a "positive correlation
between elevated levels of neuropeptide Y and lucidity of mind."
Specifically, special-forces soldiers, who averaged 33% higher plasma
levels of NPY than general troops, "were found to possess clearer minds
and to have out-performed other soldiers under stress. Likewise,
soldiers in combat-dive training who released higher levels of NPY
during stress "excelled in underwater navigation," and hostage rescue
team members with higher NPY levels also performed better under stress.
Another research team, headed by Dr. Rachel Yehuda of the Traumatic
Stress Studies Program at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in NY, compared
military combat veterans who developed PTSD to those who did not.
These researchers found a "significant" correlation between higher NYP
levels, "a protective stress factor," and "positive coping"; that is, "a
biologic...resilience to or recovery from the adverse effects of
stress." In other words, Lewinski explains, "Neuropeptides are linked to
healthy emotional recovery. The higher your level, the healthier
recovery you have.
Elaborating on Morgan's and Yehuda's findings, Lewinski told Force
Science News: "NPY fuels the attention center of the brain. It
facilitates the brain's ability to pay attention to the environment
around us, to screen information, and to select what to focus on and
what to do to bring about a desirable outcome. Attention is the key to
good performance. If you can't identify and focus on what's important to
attend to, you can't apply the skills you need to win an encounter.
"Likewise, attention impacts on memory, so your recall is influenced by
this area of the brain too.
"NPYs apparent effect on trauma is also related to attention and focus.
A big factor in an officer experiencing trauma after a critical incident
is the sense of having been out of control and not able to influence the
event or its outcome.
"An officer who can focus his attention on a positive effort to stop the
threat--like placing his front sight to deliver effective rounds into a
suspect--is likely to survive much better physically and emotionally
than an officer who shoots wildly in panic and fear. Even if the
encounter doesn't turn out ideally, you're left with a greater
psychological sense of control."
Much remains to be learned about NPY and its influence on performance
and stress recovery. One area warranting further study concerns the
impact of alcohol. According to Lewinski, animal tests suggest that
alcohol consumption significantly impairs the production of NPY. "If
this holds true for humans, this may present a difficult new issue for
trainers and officers."
Yale Scientific reports that "Morgan and colleagues are now seeking
investigational drug approval for an IV administration test, designed to
boost levels of NPY" and explore the effects. "Future drugs may aim to
raise NPY levels."
"The full extent to which we can influence brain chemistry independent
of drugs is yet to be determined," Lewinski notes. "But we do know that
the brain is malleable and can change with our efforts to use it and
make it grow. The challenge is to find the best way or ways through
training to alter the brain's attention center so that each officer has
a shot at enjoying the kinds of performance and coping benefits that
seem to be
related to high levels of NPY."
In the study FSRC hopes soon to fund, Lewinski and his research team
will test which training approaches seem best for helping officers
develop mental control and constructive focus in high-stress encounters.
"It's essential to officer survival that we identify how to most
effectively facilitate and enhance attention and focus because this will
improve performance in many types of stressful situations," Lewinski says.
"Initially, we'll be testing a variety of attention-developing
mechanisms to see which produce the most desirable results. Ultimately
we hope to have the scientific basis for showing trainers how to build
an officer's ability to determine what's most important to pay attention
to in complex, life-threatening encounters and thus build his or her
ability to respond appropriately."
Among the popular training components FSRC researchers plan to examine
are so-called "stress inoculation" exercises. "Many trainers believe
this is helpful because it exposes officers to the 'realism' of the
street," Lewinski observes. "But if this involves just heaping stress on
trainees, it may not be as helpful as imagined. In fact, it can be
counterproductive by instilling fear and anxiety.
"The idea is not to traumatize officers with stress but to skillfully
guide them to develop the ability to focus on what's important to their
survival during a stressful encounter. This, then, becomes a training
method that enhances confidence and competence, so the officer emerges
better prepared to defend his life and defeat a threatening adversary.
A grant proposal for this research is currently before the National
Police Federation in England.
An earlier report by FSN told of work by Dr. Morgan concerning the
effect of high stress on memory. For details of his surprising findings
from that research, see FSN Transmission #2 at:
www.forcesciencenews.com/home/detail.html?serial=2
Speaking of focus, multi-tasking--trying to do more than one thing at a
time--sounds efficient and time-saving, but it actually slows you down,
according to several new research reports cited in a recent article from
the New York Times News Service.
Researchers from Vanderbilt University, for example, found that when
study participants attempted 2 tasks at the same time, responses were
delayed by up to a second. In many daily tasks, a lost second is
unimportant, but in some situations that fragment of time could be critical.
Neuroscientist Rene Marois mentions talking on a cell phone while
driving a car, a subject we've addressed in previous FSN transmissions
(for example, see Transmission #24, 8/1/05, at:
www.forcesciencenews.com/home/detail.html?serial=24).
"A one-second delay in response time at 60 miles an hour could be
fatal,"he points out.
"We are under the impression that we have this brain that can do more
than it often can."
II. STARTING SOON: ARTWOHL SERIES ON BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE ISSUES IN LAW
ENFORCEMENT
Want to know more about how your memory works under stress...how to make
the best decisions when your life is on the line...how an
officer-involved shooting investigation should be conducted, and other
topics that affect your survival on the street and beyond?
Check out a new series of insightful articles focused on these and other
behavioral science issues related to law enforcement that will be
launched in the next issue of The Tactical Edge, the quarterly
publication of the National Tactical Officers Assn., due out this summer.
The series will be authored by Dr. Alexis Artwohl, the internationally
known police behavioral scientist and a member of the National Advisory
Board for the Force Science Research Center. Artwohl will also again be
a trainer at the NTOA's annual Tactical Conference, scheduled for Sept.
16-21 in Milwaukee.
You can receive The Tactical Edge as a benefit of membership in NTOA. To
apply and for more information, go to www.ntoa.org
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(c) 2007: Force Science Research Center, www.forcescience.org. Reprints
allowed by request. For reprint clearance, please e-mail:
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--
Stephen P. Wenger
Firearm safety - It's a matter
for education, not legislation.
http://www.spw-duf.info
