Comparative Prefrontal Multimodal Physiological Signatures Under Active- and Passive-Fatigue-Inducing Simulated Driving Paradigms

Background/Objectives: Mental fatigue during driving can arise under different task conditions and typically progresses from mild to severe states. Active fatigue is usually linked to cognitively demanding driving, whereas passive fatigue is associated with prolonged monotonous driving. However, studies on multilevel mental fatigue remain scarce, and direct comparisons of prefrontal multimodal physiological responses to active and passive fatigue are still limited. The objective of this study is to characterize and compare the prefrontal multimodal physiological signatures across three fatigue levels under two simulated driving paradigms designed to induce active and passive fatigue. Methods: Eleven healthy participants completed two simulated driving tasks designed to induce active and passive fatigue. Physiological data were recorded using a self-developed prefrontal EEG-fNIRS system, and pulse-related signals were derived from the hemodynamic measurements. Based on subjective and objective indicators, fatigue was classified into non-fatigue (NonF), moderate fatigue (ModF), and severe fatigue (SevF). Results: In the active-fatigue-inducing paradigm, significant changes in prefrontal EEG and hemodynamic already emerged from NonF to ModF; for example, the EEG β/(θ + α) power ratio increased from 0.973 to 1.157 (p < 0.001) and the normalized mean deoxyhemoglobin feature increased from −0.06 to 0.09 (p < 0.001). In the passive-fatigue-inducing paradigm, EEG changes became prominent mainly from ModF to SevF, with β/(θ + α) power ratio decreasing from 0.806 to 0.761 (p < 0.05). Pulse rate variability showed increasing trends in both paradigms. Conclusions: These findings suggest that the two simulated driving paradigms were associated with distinct prefrontal electrophysiological, hemodynamic, and autonomic evolution patterns across three fatigue levels, supporting graded fatigue assessment and multimodal fatigue monitoring in driving.