Brain signal analysis using EEG and Entropy to study the effect of physical and mental tasks on cognitive performance

Abstract

Some theoretical control models posit that the fatigue which is developed during physical activity is not always peripheral and it is the brain which causes this feeling of fatigue. This fatigue develops due to a decrease of metabolic resources to and from the brain that modulates physical performance. Therefore, this research was conducted to find out if there was finite level of
metabolic energy resources in the brain, by performing both mental and physical activities to exhaustion. It was found that there was an overflow of information during the exercise-involved experiment. The circular relationship between fatigue, cognitive performance and arousal state insinuates that one should apply more effort to maintain performance levels which would require more energy resources that eventually accelerates the development of fatigue. Thus, there appeared to be a limited amount of energy resources in the brain as shown by the cognitive performance of the participants.