Mental workload and neural efficiency quantified in the prefrontal cortex using fNIRS.
Sci Rep
; 7(1): 5222, 2017 07 12.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-28701789
ABSTRACT
An improved understanding of how the brain allocates mental resources as a function of task difficulty is critical for enhancing human performance. Functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a field-deployable optical brain monitoring technology that provides a direct measure of cerebral blood flow in response to cognitive activity. We found that fNIRS was sensitive to variations in task difficulty in both real-life (flight simulator) and laboratory settings (tests measuring executive functions), showing increased concentration of oxygenated hemoglobin (HbO2) and decreased concentration of deoxygenated hemoglobin (HHb) in the prefrontal cortex as the tasks became more complex. Intensity of prefrontal activation (HbO2 concentration) was not clearly correlated to task performance. Rather, activation intensity shed insight on the level of mental effort, i.e., how hard an individual was working to accomplish a task. When combined with performance, fNIRS provided an estimate of the participants' neural efficiency, and this efficiency was consistent across levels of difficulty of the same task. Overall, our data support the suitability of fNIRS to assess the mental effort related to human operations and represents a promising tool for the measurement of neural efficiency in other contexts such as training programs or the clinical setting.
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Análise e Desempenho de Tarefas
/
Mapeamento Encefálico
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Carga de Trabalho
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Córtex Pré-Frontal
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Espectroscopia de Luz Próxima ao Infravermelho
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Função Executiva
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Neuroimagem Funcional
Limite:
Adult
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Female
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Humans
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Male
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Sci Rep
Ano de publicação:
2017
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
França