Electroencephalogram and electrocardiograph assessment of mental fatigue in a driving simulator

Mental fatigue is a contributing factor to some serious transportation crashes. In this study, we measured mental fatigue in drivers using electroencephalogram (EEG) and electrocardiograph (ECG). Together, thirteen healthy subjects performed a continuous simulated driving task for 90 min with simultaneous ECG and multi-channel EEG recording of each subject. Several important physiological parameters were investigated using preprocessed ECG and EEG signals. The results show that the EEG alpha and beta, the relative power, the amplitude of P300 wave of event-related potential (ERP), the approximated entropy of the ECG, and the lower and upper bands of power of heart rate variability (HRV) are significantly different before and after finishing the driving task (p < 0.05). These metrics are possible indices for measuring simulated driving mental fatigue.