Mental fatigue causes significant activation of the prefrontal cortex: A systematic review and meta-analysis of fNIRS studies
Yunyun Yan
Research Center of Experimental Acupuncture Science, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin, China
National Clinical Research Center for Chinese Medicine Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Tianjin, China
Contribution: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Resources, Supervision, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing
Search for more papers by this authorYi Guo
Research Center of Experimental Acupuncture Science, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin, China
National Clinical Research Center for Chinese Medicine Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Tianjin, China
School of Acupuncture-Moxibustion and Tuina, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin, China
Contribution: Supervision
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Dan Zhou
Research Center of Experimental Acupuncture Science, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin, China
National Clinical Research Center for Chinese Medicine Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Tianjin, China
School of Acupuncture-Moxibustion and Tuina, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin, China
Correspondence
Dan Zhou, Research Center of Experimental Acupuncture Science, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin, China.
Email: [email protected]
Contribution: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Resources, Supervision, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing
Search for more papers by this authorYunyun Yan
Research Center of Experimental Acupuncture Science, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin, China
National Clinical Research Center for Chinese Medicine Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Tianjin, China
Contribution: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Resources, Supervision, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing
Search for more papers by this authorYi Guo
Research Center of Experimental Acupuncture Science, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin, China
National Clinical Research Center for Chinese Medicine Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Tianjin, China
School of Acupuncture-Moxibustion and Tuina, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin, China
Contribution: Supervision
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Dan Zhou
Research Center of Experimental Acupuncture Science, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin, China
National Clinical Research Center for Chinese Medicine Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Tianjin, China
School of Acupuncture-Moxibustion and Tuina, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin, China
Correspondence
Dan Zhou, Research Center of Experimental Acupuncture Science, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin, China.
Email: [email protected]
Contribution: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Resources, Supervision, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing
Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
Mental fatigue, a psychobiological prevalent and underestimated condition, is defined by increased lethargy and impaired concentration. This condition is not restricted by age and is exacerbated by various predisposing factors. Prolonged mental fatigue in occupational environments raises the probability of accidents or fatalities. Its fundamental mechanism is largely obscure and inherently subjective, thus there is no universally accepted parameter for its detection. Recently, there has been an increase in research that focuses on the use of functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to observe changes in brain hemoglobin during mental fatigue. Thus, this study assessed the reliability of oxygenhemoglobin and deoxyhemoglobin as fatigue biomarkers and conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies which used fNIRS to monitor mental fatigue. The findings revealed significant activation of the prefrontal lobe under mental fatigue, and its activation level is intricately associated with the monitoring of diverse states during mental fatigue. Importantly, the type of induced mental fatigue and whether pre-trial training was provided to subjects were independent of the prefrontal lobe activation level. Overall, fNIRS proves to be an effective tool in tracking brain activity during mental fatigue, with a highly active prefrontal cortex acting as a dependable indicator for early identification of mental fatigue.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST STATEMENT
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
Open Research
DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
The data that supports the findings of this study are available in the supplementary material of this article.
Supporting Information
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| psyp14747-sup-0001-Tables.docxWord 2007 document , 62.4 KB |
Table S1. Table S2. Table S3. Table S4. Table S5. |
Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.
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