The Brain Under Fatigue

  • 7,083

    Total downloads

  • 42k

    Total views and downloads

Submit your idea

Select the journal/section where you want your idea to be submitted:

Submit your manuscript summarySubmit your manuscript

About this Research Topic

Submission closed

Background

The traditional paradigm of probing brain function involves a physical or mental challenge, which causes transient perturbations in the electrical and hemodynamic brain activity. Recently, a new type of activation study has been proposed by several research groups that break away from this traditional paradigm. Instead of short-duration, low-effort tasks being performed repeatedly, these newer studies demand an increased level of physical or mental effort from subjects with the intention of inducing physical and/or mental fatigue. Continued task performance over prolonged periods of time with no rest intervals presents a challenging imaging paradigm that requires the development of new imaging protocols and data analysis methods to deduce meaningful conclusions about brain circuit dynamics under fatigue.

The accuracy, sensitivity, and reproducibility of traditional activation studies rely strongly on the identification of a stable baseline not only during resting state before the task but also between task repetition blocks. The latter is necessary for attaining epoch averaging and adequate signal to noise ratios. Fatigue studies, on the other hand, present a unique challenge as the very nature of the protocol does not allow for averaging. Furthermore, as fatigue builds up the physiological state of brain and body change continuously, making it challenging to decide how to define time interval durations for signal averaging. In addition, every subject will likely have a different physiological trajectory while resisting fatigue to maintain task performance due to differences in their level of cardiovascular fitness or mental persistence attitudes, to name a few possibilities. These subject-to-subject variations make it challenging to attain group averages when analyzing data. Despite the new problems that fatigue-inducing protocols present, these studies also present new and exciting opportunities. Mapping the temporal trajectories of brain activity and network dynamics while a subject reaches the edge of their physical or mental performance abilities may open new avenues of inquiry for researchers.

There are two types of manuscripts that would be of interest to this Research Topic. This first type would propose new approaches that improve upon the state of the art in neuroimaging data analyses. Fatigue studies utilizing noninvasive neuroimaging such as fNIRS, EEG, fMRI data would be of interest. These studies would be acquiring any relevant task performance and peripheral physiological data concurrently with brain imaging. For example:
• New computational methods to help parse time-series data in an unbiased manner, e.g., low versus high fatigue, to help guide signal averaging.
• Computational methods to help align different temporal trajectories found between subjects to reduce the large variabilities occurring at the group averaging level.

The second type of manuscript of interest could entail the use of fatigue protocols to help classify physiological differences between patient populations. For example:
• How do brain network trajectories change dynamically during fatigue as a function of subject age?
• Is it feasible to define ‘brain network capacity’ metrics as novel biomarkers to help study the effects of exercise on healthy subjects or on subjects affected, say by stroke or Alzheimer’s?

Keywords: fNIRS, EEG, fMRI, fatigue, connectivity

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

Topic editors

Frequently asked questions

  • Frontiers' Research Topics are collaborative hubs built around an emerging theme.Defined, managed, and led by renowned researchers, they bring communities together around a shared area of interest to stimulate collaboration and innovation.

    Unlike section journals, which serve established specialty communities, Research Topics are pioneer hubs, responding to the evolving scientific landscape and catering to new communities.

  • The goal of Frontiers' publishing program is to empower research communities to actively steer the course of scientific publishing. Our program was implemented as a three-part unit with fixed field journals, flexible specialty sections, and dynamically emerging Research Topics, connecting communities of different sizes and maturity.

    Research Topics originate from the scientific community. Many of our Research Topics are suggested by existing editorial board members who have identified critical challenges or areas of interest in their field.

  • As an editor, Research Topics will help you build your journal, as well as your community, around emerging, cutting-edge research. As research trailblazers, Research Topics attract high-quality submissions from leading experts all over the world.

    A thriving Research Topic can potentially evolve into a new specialty section if there is sustained interest and a growing community around it.

  • Each Research Topic must be approved by the specialty chief editor, and it falls under the editorial oversight of our editorial boards, supported by our in-house research integrity team. The same standards and rigorous peer review processes apply to articles published as part of a Research Topic as for any other article we publish.

    In 2023, 80% of the Research Topics we published were edited or co-edited by our editorial board members, who are already familiar with their journal's scope, ethos, and publishing model. All other topics are guest edited by leaders in their field, each vetted and formally approved by the specialty chief editor.

  • Publishing your article within a Research Topic with other related articles increases its discoverability and visibility, which can lead to more views, downloads, and citations. Research Topics grow dynamically as more published articles are added, causing frequent revisiting, and further visibility.

    As Research Topics are multidisciplinary, they are cross-listed in several fields and section journals – increasing your reach even more and giving you the chance to expand your network and collaborate with researchers in different fields, all focusing on expanding knowledge around the same important topic.

    Our larger Research Topics are also converted into ebooks and receive social media promotion from our digital marketing team.

     

  • Frontiers offers multiple article types, but it will depend on the field and section journals in which the Research Topic will be featured. The available article types for a Research Topic will appear in the drop-down menu during the submission process.

    Check available article types here 

  • Yes, we would love to hear your ideas for a topic. Most of our Research Topics are community-led and suggested by researchers in the field. Our in-house editorial team will contact you to talk about your idea and whether you’d like to edit the topic. If you’re an early-stage researcher, we will offer you the opportunity to coordinate your topic, with the support of a senior researcher as the topic editor. 

    Suggest your topic here 

  • A team of guest editors (called topic editors) lead their Research Topic. This editorial team oversees the entire process, from the initial topic proposal to calls for participation, the peer review, and final publications.

    The team may also include topic coordinators, who help the topic editors send calls for participation, liaise with topic editors on abstracts, and support contributing authors. In some cases, they can also be assigned as reviewers.

  • As a topic editor (TE), you will take the lead on all editorial decisions for the Research Topic, starting with defining its scope. This allows you to curate research around a topic that interests you, bring together different perspectives from leading researchers across different fields and shape the future of your field. 

     

    You will choose your team of co-editors, curate a list of potential authors, send calls for participation and oversee the peer review process, accepting or recommending rejection for each manuscript submitted.

  • As a topic editor, you're supported at every stage by our in-house team. You will be assigned a single point of contact to help you on both editorial and technical matters. Your topic is managed through our user-friendly online platform, and the peer review process is supported by our industry-first AI review assistant (AIRA).

  • If you’re an early-stage researcher, we will offer you the opportunity to coordinate your topic, with the support of a senior researcher as the topic editor. This provides you with valuable editorial experience, improving your ability to critically evaluate research articles and enhancing your understanding of the quality standards and requirements for scientific publishing, as well as the opportunity to discover new research in your field, and expand your professional network.

  • Yes, certificates can be issued on request. We are happy to provide a certificate for your contribution to editing a successful Research Topic.

  • Research Topics thrive on collaboration and their multi-disciplinary approach around emerging, cutting-edge themes, attract leading researchers from all over the world.

  • As a topic editor, you can set the timeline for your Research Topic, and we will work with you at your pace. Typically, Research Topics are online and open for submissions within a few weeks and remain open for participation for 6 – 12 months. Individual articles within a Research Topic are published as soon as they are ready.

    Find out more about our Research Topics

  • Our fee support program ensures that all articles that pass peer review, including those published in Research Topics, can benefit from open access – regardless of the author's field or funding situation.

    Authors and institutions with insufficient funding can apply for a discount on their publishing fees. A fee support application form is available on our website.

  • In line with our mission to promote healthy lives on a healthy planet, we do not provide printed materials. All our articles and ebooks are available under a CC-BY license, so you can share and print copies.

     

Participating Journals

Impact

  • 42kTopic views
  • 33kArticle views
  • 7,083Article downloads
View impact