DEVELOPMENT OF NEUROPHYSIOLOGICAL APPROACHES FOR MONITORING AND INTERVENING MENTAL FATIGUE

Abstract

The aim of this thesis was to develop neurophysiological approaches for monitoring and intervening mental fatigue. To achieve the target, this study first utilized fMRI and EEG techniques to investigate the effects of mental fatigue on the brain activation and the functional connectivity between thalamus and other brain areas. The results showed that EEG spindles vary with mental fatigue levels and can indicate both circadian and work-induce mental fatigue. Secondly, a novel EEG approach using spindle activity as the indicator was proposed to monitor mental fatigue and predict unintentional sleep onset. And finally, trigeminal nerve stimulation was utilized to intervene and suppress the effects of mental fatigue. In conclusion, this work provided an essential step toward the development of a system that can provide reliable and early feedback on individual?s fatigue level at any given time and deliver stimulation to quickly suppress the fatigue effects.