Original Article
Evaluation of the Relationship between Brain Activity and Mental Workload during Brain Training Games by fNIRS
2023 Volume 53 Issue 2 Pages 61-68
Details
2023 Volume 53 Issue 2 Pages 61-68
Background: Brain training tasks are perfomed to prevent dementia. Since the effect of brain activation with brain training tasks depends on the type of tasks and the individual's interest or ability, it is necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of the tasks for maintaining and improving cognitive functions.
Objective: We analyze the relationship between the changes in the cerebral blood volume measured by functional near-infrared spectroscopy and the task load indexes to evaluate the effect of brain training tasks.
Methods: Three types of tasks for promoting brain activity were selected from brain training free mini games (https://notore.weclo.net). Those are figure quantity (Task A), Japanese hiragana character quantity (Task B), and day of the week mental arithmetic (Task C). The changes in the cerebral blood volume (CBV) during brain training tasks were measured at the frontal forehead using 16-channel fNIRS equipment. The averaged integral value of CBV used as the index of brain activity. Subjects completed a questionnaire prepared based on NASATLX. There are five types of evaluation indexes: mental demand (MD), temporal demand (TD), own performance (OP), effort (EF), and frustration level (FR). Each index is evaluated on a 5-point scale by paired comparison.
Results: The average correct answer rate and the average number of answers were high in Task A. Both the CBV and all TLX indexes have low values for Task A and high values for Tasks B and C. The relationship between CBV and tasks and the relationship between the cognitive workload and tasks were matched in nine out of ten cases.
Conclusion: Further evaluation of the relationship between CBV and the workload TLX indexes may be helpful in selecting brain training tasks.
