Análise neurofisiológica da fadiga mental não induzida e seus impactos no desempenho acadêmico-atencional de estudantes universitários: um estudo de potenciais relacionados a eventos

Abstract

In the educational research, mental fatigue is understudied, particularly when inferring a correlation with academic performance. The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of mental fatigue on the attentional cognitive performance of university students. The approach involves a systematic literature review, analysis of psychometric assessment scales on fatigue, sleepiness in acute and cumulative stages, and stress perception scale, along with an experimental analysis through neurophysiological recordings. A systematic review is conducted on P300, mental fatigue, and attention, encompassing 25 studies (n = 3, 091). For the scope of this study, a dataset of cross-sectional data is used with (n = 115) participants, comprising 82 males and 33 females, all engineering students, aged between 19 and 30 years. The results show gender differences in fatigue and sleepiness states. In accumulated fatigue, 48.5% of women concentrate on more severe stages, while 67.1% of men are in moderate stages (p < 0.001). Regarding accumulated sleepiness, mild sleepiness is observed in 50.0% of men and moderate sleepiness in 39.4% of women, with no significant difference between the two groups (p = 0.054). 60.9% of participants exhibited moderate fatigue, and 46.1% reported mild excessive sleepiness. As for acute fatigue and sleepiness states, 50% of women scored moderate to severe fatigue, and 50% of men reported mild to moderate levels. There was no statistical difference between the groups in acute sleepiness (p = 0.13). 51.3% of the sample exhibited acute fatigue. Female participants are more affected, showing a higher incidence of fatigue among university students. Regarding stress, 39.1% of the sample scored a high stress perception index (p < 0.001). There was statistical significance in the correlation between the scales. The higher the fatigue, the greater the sleepiness (p < 0.001). Concerning the Stress Perception Scale, higher stress perception corresponds to increased fatigue. Similarly, higher scores on the acute sleep scale correlate with higher scores on the Stress Perception Scale. The literature review indicated that the P300 component is the most studied and related to attention. In event-related potential (ERP) measurements, involving (n = 4) engineering students, results showed a higher P300 amplitude for the rested condition. The P300 component was most evident in ERP investigation. There was no difference in the oddball task associated with counting deviant stimuli. In conclusion, mental fatigue affects attentional aspects of brain processes and compromises the academic performance of university students.