Katmah Rateb, Al-Shargie Fares, Tariq Usman, Babiloni Fabio, Al-Mughairbi Fadwa, Al-Nashash Hasan
IEEE Trans Neural Syst Rehabil Eng. 2023;31:1086-1096. doi: 10.1109/TNSRE.2023.3239913. Epub 2023 Feb 6.
In this study, we propose a method to enhance cognitive vigilance and mitigate mental stress in the workplace. We designed an experiment to induce stress by putting participants through Stroop Color-Word Task (SCWT) under time constraint and negative feedback. Then, we used 16 Hz binaural beats auditory stimulation (BBs) for 10 minutes to enhance cognitive vigilance and mitigate stress. Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS), salivary alpha-amylase, and behavioral reactions were used to determine the stress level. The level of stress was assessed using reaction time to stimuli (RT), accuracy of target detection, directed functional connectivity based on partial directed coherence, graph theory measures, and the laterality index (LI). We discovered that 16 Hz BBs mitigated mental stress by substantially increasing the target detection accuracy by 21.83% ( ${p} < 0.001$ ) and decreasing salivary alpha amylase levels by 30.28% ( ${p} < 0.01$ ). The partial directed coherence, graph theory analysis measures, and LI results indicated that mental stress decreased information flow from the left to the right prefrontal cortex under stress, whereas the 16 Hz BBs had a major impact on enhancing vigilance and mitigating mental stress via boosting connectivity network on the dorsolateral and left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex.
在本研究中，我们提出了一种增强认知警觉性并减轻工作场所精神压力的方法。我们设计了一项实验，通过让参与者在时间限制和负面反馈下完成斯特鲁普颜色-文字任务（SCWT）来诱导压力。然后，我们使用16赫兹双耳节拍听觉刺激（BBs）10分钟，以增强认知警觉性并减轻压力。使用功能近红外光谱（fNIRS）、唾液α-淀粉酶和行为反应来确定压力水平。使用对刺激的反应时间（RT）、目标检测准确率、基于偏定向相干的定向功能连接性、图论测量以及偏侧性指数（LI）来评估压力水平。我们发现，16赫兹BBs通过将目标检测准确率大幅提高21.83%（p<0.001）并使唾液α-淀粉酶水平降低30.28%（p<0.01）来减轻精神压力。偏定向相干性、图论分析测量以及LI结果表明，精神压力会降低应激状态下从左前额叶皮质到右前额叶皮质的信息流，而16赫兹BBs通过增强背外侧和左腹外侧前额叶皮质的连接网络，对提高警觉性和减轻精神压力有重大影响。
