Event-Related Potentials in Cued Go/NoGo Task are Possible Neuromarkers of Monotony

Abstract

Monotony or mental fatigue occurs during performing low-content and monotonous work, including the work of the operator. It is accompanied by a decrease in the concentration of attention and the speed of its switching, as well as slowing in the processes of perception and motor reactions, which can lead to a loss of vigilance, self-control and the occurrence of drowsiness and, consequently, an increase in the risk of industrial injuries and accidents. In this regard, an urgent task is to develop methods for monitoring the human condition in the process of performing monotonous activities. We investigated the effect of monotony on event-related potentials (ERPs) in the visual cued Go/NoGo test. We analyzed 31-channel EEG data of 25 healthy subjects recorded before and after performing four tests with a total duration of around 1.5 hours, representing the same type of tasks with different instructions and simulating the conditions of monotonous work. After performing four tests, we observe an increase of P2 wave, decrease of the P3 Cue wave and the contingent negative variation (CNV) wave in the Cue condition, as well as the decrease of P300 wave in the NoGo condition. The results obtained in this work are assumed to reflect attenuation in proactive and reactive cognitive control during monotony and allow us to consider the P2, P3 Cue, CNV and P3 NoGo waves as possible candidates for the role of neuromarkers of monotony, which makes it promising to use these indicators in systems for monitoring the human condition during operating work.