Fatigue Research
We utilize EEG ("brain waves") and specifically event-related brain potentials to study cognitive fatigue and its effects on learning and decision-making. Fatigue is a huge issue in a variety of workplace environments - we know people get tired (Ferrara et al. 2001), we know they make more mistakes when they are tired (Barger et al. 2006), and we know that most people are not aware of how tired they are (Sadeghniiat-Haghighi, 2015). Fatigue related errors can result in injury or death. Our goal is to use the latest neuroscience technology and knowledge to develop a mobile fatigue assessment platform that does not infer fatigue but directly measures how tired you are via changes in brain activity.
How It Works
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We measure cognitive fatigue by having people play a 5 minute game on an iPad. What is unique about our approach, is while people play the game we are measuring their EEG responses to events in the game using a MUSE headband.
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The game is called oddball, people see a series of circles, some green, most blue. The green circles are "targets" and you touch the screen every time you see a green circle. You do nothing when you see blue circles. |
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As we said above, while you play the game we record EEG via the MUSE headband - your "brain waves". |
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When you see the targets - the green circles - your brain responds to them. This response is called an event-related brain potential (ERP) and specifically in this case the P300. |
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Importantly, when you are fatigued the amplitude of your brains response to the targets is reduced. In other words, the amplitude of the P300 is smaller. Because we can accurately measure this we have a direct, neural, measure of fatigue. |
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So what we do is take a series of P300 measurements and figure out what your brain looks like when it is rested and when it is tired. Once we have built up a profile over a few sessions, we can determine on the spot if you are fatigued or not. The score on the end indicates a P300 amplitude that is smaller than usual - thus the person is fatigued. |
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Here you see the relationship between P300 amplitude and fatigue. In this case, data from a research study from our lab demonstrating the relationship between the P300 and fatigue. |
.For data collection, we use the PEER application made by SUVA technologies.
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We are currently running studies using this technology in mining, hospitals, with the Victoria Harbour Cats baseball team, and in a collaborative project with the NASA HISEAS Mars Habitat in Hawaii.
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