Paper Title
Exploring the Impact of Caffeine on Sleep and Cognitive Performance in Air Traffic Control: Experimental Findings and Insights

Abstract
StudyObjectives Most current models for predicting alertness, particularly in relation to cognitive performance, mainly rely on limited factors like sleep and caffeine consumption. This study examines caffeine's effect on cognitive performance, namely response time and sleep, in the context of air traffic control. We sought to test how accurately the 2B Alert Web system can predict cognitive performance with different amounts of sleep deprivation and caffeine intake. Methods We report here for analysis a four-day-long experiment of the Human Factors Laboratory of the Mohammed VI International Academy of Civil Aviation, including 39 volunteers. Participants' reaction times were recorded and compared with forecasts made by the 2B Alert Web system, allowing examination of the system's ability to predict cognitive performance during sleep deprivation and in the presence of caffeine. Results Results indicate a clear inverse relationship between caffeine consumption and reaction time, meaning caffeine appears to enhance performance. The effects of caffeine on sleep were, however, more inconsistent. A group of particular participantsshowed no perceivable effects of caffeine on either reaction time nor sleep. Going deeper into this subgroup, it was found that 75% of these individuals reported that they did not have enoughrest, and all reported stress. This indicates that stress and rest play a conspicuous role in cognitive performance. Conclusions Where caffeine generally improves reaction times, the other factors that could impact cognitive performance flexibly vary from one person to the other. The study emphasizes the significance of considering stress and rest apart from caffeine while assessing cognitive performance. Such relevance is especially pivotal in domains such as air traffic control, where cognitive function is paramount to safety and efficiency. The implications are for further scientific research into what other factors, other than caffeine, can exert an influence on performance in high-pressure environments. Significance This study contributes to a better understanding of caffeine's role in cognitive performance in aviation and emphasizes that cognitive function needs more than good caffeine optimization for air traffic control purposes. Stress levels and adequate rest should also be taken into account. These insights are valuable for refining predictive models and improving performance in air traffic control and other high-stress professions. Keywords - Physio-cognitive modeling, Sleep, Caffeine, Cognitive performance, Stress, Rest, Unified Model of Performance, 2B Alert Web.