Abstract

Stress is a complex response that begins when people are exposed to various stressors, including psychological and environmental factors, which are associated with negative cognitive effects. However, little is known about their interactions within the brain. This research aimed to examine the influence of low and high noise levels in the workplace on changes in brain activity in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) during stressful psychological tasks by measuring synchronized functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and electroencephalogram (EEG). The results showed a decreased oxygenated haemoglobin (HbO) concentrations in the right dorsolateral PFC and part of the frontopolar area when exposed to higher noise levels compared to lower levels. Results also showed a higher correlation between fNIRS-HbO and EEG-alpha power under stress conditions compared to other EEG bands. We suggest that higher levels of noise in the workplace may be directly related to increased psychological stress.

Details

Title
Identifying the Impact of Noise-Levels on Mental Stress: An EEG-fNIRS Study
Author
Alyan, Emad 1 ; Saad, Naufal M 1 ; Kamel, Nidal 1 ; Samir Salem Al-Bawri 2 ; Zakariya, Mohd Azman 3 ; Mohammad Abdul Rahman 4 

 Centre for Intelligent Signal and Imaging Research (CISIR), Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University Teknologi PETRONAS, 32610, Seri Iskandar, Perak, Malaysia 
 Department of Electronics & Communication Engineering, Faculty of Engineering & Petroleum, Hadhramout University, Al-Mukalla 50512, Hadhramout, Yemen.; Space Science Centre, Climate Change Institute, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi 43600, Malaysia 
 Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University Teknologi PETRONAS, 32610, Seri Iskandar, Perak, Malaysia 
 Faculty of Medicine, University Kuala Lumpur Royal College of Medicine Perak, 30450, Perak, Malaysia 
Publication year
2021
Publication date
Jul 2021
Publisher
IOP Publishing
ISSN
17426588
e-ISSN
17426596
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2555407792
Copyright
© 2021. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.