Abstract
Fatigue is a major contributor to workplace accidents, morbidity, and mortality. To prevent the disruption of homeostasis and to concurrently accomplish an assigned workload, it is essential to control the level of workload based on the subjective estimation of the level of fatigue that will be experienced in the near future. In this study, we aimed to clarify the neural mechanisms related to predicting subjective levels of fatigue that would be experienced 60 min later, using magnetoencephalography. Sixteen healthy male volunteers participated in this study. In relation to the prediction, a decrease of alpha band power in the right Brodmann’s area (BA) 40 and BA 9 at 1200 to 1350 ms and that in the right BA 9 at 1350 to 1500 ms, and a decrease of gamma band power in the right BA 10 at 1500 to 1650 ms were observed. In addition, the decreased level of alpha band power in BA 9 at 1200 to 1350 ms was positively associated with the daily level of fatigue. These findings may help increase our understanding of the neural mechanisms activated to indicate the need to take a rest based on the prediction of the subjective fatigue in the future.
Highlights
Related to the decision to rest based on the subjective level of fatigue experienced at the present moment
We examined neural activities related to the prediction of the subjective level of fatigue that will be experienced 60 min later
Decreases of alpha band power in the right BAs 40 and 9 in the time window of 1200 to 1350 ms and that in the right BA 9 in the time window of 1350 to1500 ms, and the decrease of gamma band power in the right BA 10 in the time window of 1500 to 1650 ms were related to the prediction of the subjective level of fatigue
Summary
Related to the decision to rest based on the subjective level of fatigue experienced at the present moment. To prevent disrupting homeostasis and concurrently accomplish the assigned workload, it may be important to control the level of workload based on the estimation of the subjective level of fatigue that will be experienced in the near future. If the subjective level of fatigue in the near future is underestimated, excessive workload makes it difficult to maintain performance for a long time, leading to a decline in performance and/or even disrupting homeostasis. We aimed to clarify the neural mechanisms related to predicting the subjective level of fatigue that will be experienced in the future as a first step in examining the neural mechanisms of the decision to rest based on the future level of fatigue. Because it can be hypothesized that the prediction of the subjective level of fatigue includes the process of evaluating the subjective level of fatigue experienced at the time of the prediction, we added a control condition in which self-evaluation of the subjective level of fatigue at the present moment was performed and compared these activities to extract neural activities characteristic to the future prediction
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