The objective of this study was to investigate common functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) features of mental fatigue induced by different tasks. In addition to distinguishing fatigue from non-fatigue state, the early signs of fatigue were also studied so as to give an early warning of fatigue.
fNIRS data from 36 participants were used to investigate the common character of functional connectivity network corresponding to mental fatigue, which was induced by psychomotor vigilance test (PVT), cognitive work, or simulated driving. To analyze the network reorganizations quantitatively, clustering coefficient, characteristic path length, and small worldness were calculated in five sub-bands (0.6–2.0, 0.145–0.600, 0.052–0.145, 0.021–0.052, and 0.005–0.021 Hz). Moreover, we applied a random forest method to classify three fatigue states.
In a moderate fatigue state: the functional connectivity strength between brain regions increased overall in 0.021–0.052 Hz, and an asymmetrical pattern of connectivity (right hemisphere > left hemisphere) was presented. In 0.052–0.145 Hz, the connectivity strength decreased overall, the clustering coefficient decreased, and the characteristic path length increased significantly. In severe fatigue state: in 0.021–0.052 Hz, the brain network began to deviate from a small-world pattern. The classification accuracy of fatigue and non-fatigue was 85.4%. The classification accuracy of moderate fatigue and severe fatigue was 82.8%.
The preliminary research demonstrates the feasibility of detecting mental fatigue induced by different tasks, by applying the functional network features of cerebral hemoglobin signal. This universal and robust method has the potential to detect early signs of mental fatigue and prevent relative human error in various working environments.