Study on the Influence of Emotion and Fatigue on Cognitive Function During Simulated Flight Based on ERP Technology.

Abstract

Background: Pilots often experience mental fatigue during task performance, accompanied by fluctuations in positive (e.g., joy) and negative (e.g., tension) emotions. Both mental fatigue and emotional changes significantly contribute to aviation accidents, yet few studies have considered their interplay. This study had three primary objectives. First, it examined the changes in positive and negative emotions following mental fatigue. Second, it investigated how these emotions influence the recovery from fatigue. Finally, it developed a comprehensive evaluation model integrating mental fatigue and emotional states.

Methods: Two task sets were created using the visual search paradigm, incorporating simulated flight tasks with positive and negative emotional stimuli. Data were collected from 30 participants using electroencephalogram (EEG), eye-tracking, electrocardiogram (ECG), and behavioral performance metrics.

Results: Participants showed mental fatigue after the simulated flight task, with reduced arousal for both positive and negative emotions; positive images had stronger effects. ERP showed decreased N1, P3, and LPP amplitudes. A Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifier achieved over 93% accuracy for fatigue but about 70% for emotion recognition.

Conclusions: The task effectively induced fatigue and indicated that positive stimuli may aid recovery. Multimodal features support accurate fatigue detection, though emotion classification needs improvement Clinical Trial Registration: No: ChiCTR2500104961. https://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.html?proj=267844.