Mental fatigue characteristics based on EEG analysis

By simulating the process of pilots monitoring instrument information during flight,the change characteristics of electroencephalogram (EEG) waves along with mental fatigue were analyzed,which will provide scientific bases for future development of countermeasure to fatigue.Two visual detection tasks of different difficulties were designed to induce fatigue respectively,and many measurements were combined to study the EEG characteristics of fatigue.The EEG parameters [δ,θ,α,β,(α+θ)/β,α/β,(α+θ)/(α+β),θ/β] at the beginning and end sections of the task were compared and analyzed.The results show that there is a significant increase in α activity in the frontal,central,parietal and occipital lobes(P < 0.05),and a decrease in the β activity in the pre-frontal,inferior frontal,posterior temporal and occipital lobes(P < 0.05); there is no significant difference in δ rhythm and θ rhythm in any brain region(all in P > 0.05); The four formulas increase significantly in all brain regions except the temporal(P < 0.05),where only α/β changes clearly(P < 0.05); compared with the task with higher difficulty,the parameters in the task of lower difficulty change more obviously.Therefore,all these characteristic parameters in specific brain regions except for δ and θ can be considered as possible indicators for mental fatigue.It was also verified that adding right amount of task difficulty could counter mental fatigue.