IMPACT OF MENTAL FATIGUE ON REGAINING MOTOR FUNCTIONALITY: A PRELIMINARY EEG STUDY ON STROKE SURVIVORS

In the past few decades, research has demonstrated that brain-computer interface (BCI) based neurorehabilitation for stroke survivors can enhance the re-learning of lost motor functionality better than traditional physiotherapy involving professional physiother- apists. Though BCI-aided systems have several advantages over traditional rehabilitation methods, one of the major shortcomings of such intervention is its inability to recognize the relevant motor activity of the brain when the user gets mentally fatigued, which eventually causes the deterioration of the BCI performance. In this paper, a preliminary EEG study on stroke survivors has been reported on how mental fatigue can potentially hinder the enhancement of motor re-learning and elongate the rehab process. From the study, it has been inferred that objective measurement of mental fatigue is essential to pre- vent any subjective bias, and the rehabilitation paradigm should be adaptive to the participants’ mental status to optimize the rehab outcomes.