Research finds expert pilots make better flying decisions—not a surprise. Expert pilots brains work less than average pilot brains—that is super cool!
The paper Higher Landing Accuracy in Expert Pilots is Associated with Lower Activity in the Caudate Nucleus published in the journal PLOS One found that:
High Expertise pilots showed lower activation in the bilateral caudate nucleus (0.97±0.80) compared to Moderate Expertise pilots (1.91±1.16) (p<.05). These findings provide evidence for increased “neural efficiency” in High Expertise pilots relative to Moderate Expertise pilots.
So work hard to be an expert pilot, so you can fly better, and work less!
Quotes and illustrations from Adamson, M. M., Taylor, J. L., Heraldez, D., Khorasani, A., Noda, A., Hernez, B., & Yesavage, J. A. (2014). Higher landing accuracy in expert pilots is associated with lower activity in the caudate nucleus. PLoS ONE, 9(11). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0112607