Background: Fatigue has a multi-factorial nature. We examined the effects of two types of mental fatigue on\r\nspontaneous oscillatory brain activity using magnetoencephalography (MEG).\r\nMethods: Participants were randomly assigned to two groups in a single-blinded, crossover fashion to perform two\r\ntypes of mental fatigue-inducing experiments. Each experiment consisted of a 30-min fatigue-inducing 0- or 2-back\r\ntest session and two evaluation sessions performed just before and after the fatigue-inducing mental task session.\r\nResults: After the 0-back test, decreased alpha power was indicated in the right angular gyrus and increased levels\r\nin the left middle and superior temporal gyrus, left postcentral gyrus, right superior frontal gyrus, left inferior frontal\r\ngyrus, and right medial frontal gyrus. After the 2-back test, decreased alpha power was indicated in the right\r\nmiddle and superior frontal gyrus and increased levels in the left inferior parietal and superior parietal lobules, right\r\nparahippocampal gyrus, right uncus, left postcentral gyrus, left middle frontal gyrus, and right inferior frontal gyrus.\r\nFor beta power, increased power following the 0-back test was indicated in the left middle temporal gyrus, left\r\nsuperior frontal gyrus, left cingulate gyrus, and left precentral gyrus. After the 2-back test, decreased power was\r\nsuggested in the left superior frontal gyrus and increased levels in the left middle temporal gyrus and left inferior\r\nparietal lobule. Some of these brain regions might be associated with task performance during the fatigue-inducing\r\ntrials.\r\nConclusions: Two types of mental fatigue may produce different alterations of the spontaneous oscillatory MEG\r\nactivities. Our findings would provide new perspectives on the neural mechanisms underlying mental fatigue.
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