Oftentimes we find ourselves in situations in which we need to perform concurrent motor and cognitive tasks like simple locomotion while being cognitively involved. In the present study, we investigated in how far cognitive and motor functioning interfere in an outdoor environment. Our participants performed an auditory oddball task while concurrently completing various motor tasks on the outside premises of our institute. Beside behavioural responses and subjective workload ratings, we also analysed electrophysiological data recorded with a 30-channel mobile EEG montage. We observed an increase of subjective workload and decrease of performance with increasing movement complexity. Accordingly, we also found a decrease in the parietal P3 amplitude as well as in frontal midline Theta power with higher motor load. These results indicate that an increased movement complexity imposes a higher workload to the cognitive system, which, in turn, effectively reduces the availability of cognitive resources for the cognitive task. Overall this experiment demonstrates the feasibility of transferring classical paradigms of cognitive research to real-world settings. The findings support the notion of shared resources for motor and cognitive functions by demonstrating distinct modulations of correlates of cognitive processes across different motor tasks.

Objective: We demonstrate and discuss the use of mobile electroencephalogram (EEG) for neuroergonomics. Both technical state of the art as well as measures and cognitive concepts are systematically addressed. Background: Modern work is increasingly characterized by information processing. Therefore, the examination of mental states, mental load, or cognitive processing during work is becoming increasingly important for ergonomics. Results: Mobile EEG allows to measure mental states and processes under real live conditions. It can be used for various research questions in cognitive neuroergonomics. Besides measures in the frequency domain that have a long tradition in the investigation of mental fatigue, task load, and task engagement, new approaches—like blink-evoked potentials—render event-related analyses of the EEG possible also during unrestricted behavior. Conclusion: Mobile EEG has become a valuable tool for evaluating mental states and mental processes on a highly objective level during work. The main advantage of this technique is that working environments don’t have to be changed while systematically measuring brain functions at work. Moreover, the workflow is unaffected by such neuroergonomic approaches.

Adaptively changing between different tasks while in locomotion is a fundamental prerequisite of modern daily life. The cognitive processes underlying dual tasking have been investigated extensively using EEG. Due to technological restrictions, however, this was not possible for dual‐task scenarios including locomotion. With new technological opportunities, this became possible and cognitive‐motor interference can be studied, even in outside‐the‐lab environments. In the present study, participants carried out a cognitive‐motor interference task as they responded to cued, auditory task‐switch stimuli while performing locomotive tasks with increasing complexity (standing, walking, traversing an obstacle course). We observed increased subjective workload ratings as well as decreased behavioural performance for increased movement complexity and cognitive task difficulty. A higher movement load went along with a decrease of parietal P2, N2 and P3 amplitudes and frontal Theta power. A higher cognitive load, on the other hand, was reflected by decreased frontal CNV amplitudes. Additionally, a connectivity analysis using inter‐site phase coherence revealed that higher movement as well as cognitive task difficulty had an impairing effect on fronto‐parietal connectivity. In conclusion, subjective ratings, behavioural performance and electrophysiological results indicate that less cognitive resources were available to be deployed towards the execution of the cognitive task when in locomotion compared to standing still. Connectivity results also show a scarcity of attentional resources when switching a task during the highest movement complexity condition. Summarized, all findings indicate a central role of attentional control regarding cognitive‐motor dual tasking and an inherent limitation of cognitive resources.

Healthy aging is associated with a decline in cognitive functions. This may become an issue when complex tasks have to be performed like driving a car in a demanding traffic situation. On the other hand, older people are able to compensate for age-related deficits, e.g., by deploying extra mental effort and other compensatory strategies. The present study investigated the interplay of age, task workload, and mental effort using EEG measures and a proactive driving task, in which 16 younger and 16 older participants had to keep a virtual car on track on a curvy road. Total oscillatory power and relative power in Theta and Alpha bands were analyzed, as well as event-related potentials (ERPs) to task-irrelevant regular and irregular sound stimuli. Steering variability and Theta power increased with increasing task load (i.e., with shaper bends of the road), while Alpha power decreased. This pattern of workload and mental effort was found in both age groups. However, only in the older group a relationship between steering variability and Theta power occurred: better steering performance was associated with higher Theta power, reflecting higher mental effort. Higher Theta power while driving was also associated with a stronger increase in reported subjective fatigue in the older group. In the younger group, lower steering variability came along with lower ERP responses to deviant sound stimuli, reflecting reduced processing of task-irrelevant environmental stimuli. In sum, better performance in proactive driving (i.e., more alert steering behavior) was associated with increased mental effort in the older group, and higher attentional focus on the task in the younger group, indicating age-specific strategies in the way younger and older drivers manage demanding (driving) tasks.

Film based round the ear electrodes (cEEGrids) provide both, the accessibility of unobtrusive mobile EEG as well as a rapid EEG application in stationary settings when extended measurements are not possible. In a large-scale evaluation of driving abilities of older adults (N > 350) in a realistic driving simulation, we evaluated to what extent mental demands can be measured using cEEGrids in a completely unrestricted environment. For a first frequency-based analysis, the driving scenario was subdivided into different street segments with respect to their task loads (low, medium, high) that was a priori rated by an expert. Theta activity increased with task load but no change in Alpha power was found. Effects gained clarity after removing pink noise effects, that were potentially high in this data set due to motion artifacts. Theta fraction increased with task load and Alpha fraction decreased. We mapped this effect to specific street segments by applying a track-frequency analysis. Whilst participants drove with constant speed and without high steering wheel activity, Alpha was high and theta low. The reverse was the case in sections that required either high activity or increased attentional allocation to the driving context. When calculating mental demands for different street segments based on EEG, this measure is highly significant correlated with the experts’ rating of task load. Deviances can be explained by specific features within the segments. Thus, modulations in spectral power of the EEG were validly reflected in the cEEGrids data. All findings were in line with the prominent literature in the field. The results clearly demonstrate the usability of this low-density EEG method for application in real-world settings where an increase in ecological validity might outweigh the loss of certain aspects of internal validity.