The Reorganization of Human Brain Networks Modulated by Driving Mental Fatigue

The organization of the brain functional network is associated with mental fatigue, but little is known about the brain network topology that is modulated by the mental fatigue. In this study, we used the graph theory approach to investigate reconfiguration changes in functional networks of different electroen-cephalography (EEG) bands from 16 subjects performing a simulated driving task. Behavior and brain functional networks were compared between the normal and driving mental fatigue states. The scores of subjective self-reports indicated that 90 min of simulated driving-induced mental fatigue. We observed that coherence was significantly increased in the frontal, central, and temporal brain regions. Furthermore, in the brain network topology metric, significant increases were observed in the clustering coefficient (Cp) for beta, alpha, and delta bands and the character path length (Lp) for all EEG bands. The normalized measures γ showed significant increases in beta, alpha, and delta bands, and λ showed similar patterns in beta and theta bands. These results indicate that functional network topology can shift the network topology structure toward a more economic but less efficient configuration, which suggests low wiring costs in functional networks and disruption of the effective interactions between and across cortical regions during mental fatigue states. Graph theory analysis might be a useful tool for further understanding the neural mechanisms of driving mental fatigue.