Optical brain monitoring for operator training and mental workload assessment
Abstract
An accurate measure of mental workload in human operators is a critical element of monitoring and adaptive aiding systems that are designed to improve the efficiency and safety of human-machine systems during critical tasks. Functional near infrared (fNIR) spectroscopy is a field-deployable non-invasive optical brain monitoring technology that provides a measure of cerebral hemodynamics within the prefrontal cortex in response to sensory, motor, or cognitive activation. In this paper, we provide evidence from two studies that fNIR can be used in ecologically valid environments to assess the: 1) mental workload of operators performing standardized (n-back) and complex cognitive tasks (air traffic control--ATC), and 2) development of expertise during practice of complex cognitive and visuomotor tasks (piloting unmanned air vehicles--UAV). Results indicate that fNIR measures are sensitive to mental task load and practice level, and provide evidence of the fNIR deployment in the field for its ability to monitor hemodynamic changes that are associated with relative cognitive workload changes of operators. The methods reported here provide guidance for the development of strategic requirements necessary for the design of complex human-machine interface systems and assist with assessments of human operator performance criteria.
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fNIRS has been demonstrated by HCI researchers to measure user cognitive workload in adaptive systems and is resilient to subject movement such as playing piano.
“Brain sensing using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) has recently been demonstrated by HCI researchers to measure user cognitive workload in adaptive systems [4,44,1] and is resilient to subject movement as might be seen while playing a piano [43].”
From Learn Piano with BACh: An Adaptive Learning Interface that Adjusts Task Difficulty Based on Brain State (2016) · cites this paper as [4]
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“Brain sensing using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) has recently been demonstrated by HCI researchers to measure user cognitive workload in adaptive systems [4, 44, 1] and is resilient to subject movement as might be seen while playing a piano [43].”
BackgroundMethodMatthews, G., Panganiban, A. R., Wells, A., Wohleber, R. W., & Reinerman-Jones, L. E. (2019) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00640 · Cited by 85 · see citing works
Harrison, J., Izzetoglu, K., Ayaz, H., Willems, B., Hah, S., Ahlstrom, U., Woo, H., Shewokis, P. A., Bunce, S. C., & Onaral, B. (2014) · IEEE Transactions on Human-Machine Systems · doi:10.1109/thms.2014.2319822 · Cited by 71 · see citing works
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Self-citationKesedzic, I., Sarlija, M., Bozek, J., Popovic, S., & Cosic, K. (2021) · IEEE Sensors Journal · doi:10.1109/jsen.2020.3038032 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
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- Authors
- Ayaz, H., Shewokis, P. A., Bunce, S., Izzetoglu, K., Willems, B., & Onaral, B.
- Affiliations
- Drexel University (US)
- Pennsylvania State University (US)
- Federal Aviation Administration (US)
- Corresponding author
- Ayaz, Hasan
- Venue
- NeuroImage
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2012-01
- Volume
- 59
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 36-47
- ISSN
- 1053-8119 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2109165772
- Cited by
- 650
- References
- 7
- Citations by year
- 2026: 30 · 2025: 42 · 2024: 32 · 2023: 46 · 2022: 51 · 2021: 64 · 2020: 58 · 2019: 59 · 2018: 45 · 2017: 44 · 2016: 49 · 2015: 42 · 2014: 31 · 2013: 29 · 2012: 20
- FWCI
- 21.52
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- NeuroImage (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (DTFA01-00-C-00068)
- U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity (W81XWH-08-2-0573)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging › Optical Imaging and Spectroscopy Techniques
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Human-Automation Interaction and Safety
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Keywords
- functional near-infrared spectroscopy, mental workload assessment, operator training, n-back task, air traffic control, expertise development, human-machine interface design, field deployment
- MeSH terms
- Brain, Humans, Monitoring, Physiologic, Task Performance and Analysis, Workload, Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared, Functional Neuroimaging
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