The effect of alcohol-use and sleep deprivation on quantitative changes in EEG for normal young adults during multitasking evaluation

Abstract

The Fitness-For-Duty (FFD) of a worker in high-reliability systems such as Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) and the civilian aircraft industry has been largely recognized as a key indicator when identifying the causes for human-error related accidents/incidents. Specifically, an alcohol drinker and a sleep-deprived worker has been identified as fatal to nuclear safety. In NPPs, a reactor operator must be capable of multitasking to detect a system failure. Thus, the objective of this study is to understand the EEG variations underpinning the reactions of drinkers and drowsy persons during multitasking cognitive performance. An experimental task was performed which included multitasking, working memory and real time EEG signals recorded. Quantitative EEG (absolute and relative powers of the seven bands) was analyzed for 10 college students (five subjects with 0.05% Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) and five with less than one hour of sleep). The same experiment was performed again when each of the subjects had a normal health status (0% BAC and their typical sleep duration). The results indicated a statistical difference in cognitive performance depending on their physical status. These results can be used to investigate the feasibility of determining alcohol-use and sleep quality measurements using EEG indicators, as well as determining a worker’s FFD related to cognitive performance.