Effects of Noise Exposure and Mental Workload on Physiological Responses during Task Execution

Area of Science:

• Human-Computer Interaction
• Cognitive Psychology
• Environmental Health

Background:

• Noise exposure and mental workload (MW) are critical factors influencing human performance and physiological responses.
• Understanding these impacts is crucial for designing optimal work environments and tasks.
• Previous research has explored these factors independently, but their combined effects require further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the physiological responses of healthy male students to varying noise exposure levels and mental workload (MW) conditions during a multi-attribute task battery (MATB) task.
• To determine the correlation between noise characteristics (sound pressure level, sharpness) and physiological indicators.
• To examine the relationship between MW levels and physiological stress markers and task performance.

Main Methods:

• Recruited twelve healthy male students for controlled experiments.
• Exposed participants to three distinct noise conditions (varying sound pressure levels and sharpness).
• Administered MATB tasks at low, medium, and high MW levels, collecting electroencephalogram (EEG), electrocardiogram (ECG), and eye movement data.

Main Results:

• Resting physiological responses were not significantly affected by noise exposure.
• During MATB tasks, elevated noise (sound pressure level, sharpness) correlated with increased mean pupil diameter and heart rate variability (HRV).
• Increased mental demands led to elevated theta relative power in EEG, indicating stress. Both high and low MW levels were associated with reduced saccade amplitude and decreased task performance, suggesting an inverted U-shaped relationship.

Conclusions:

• The human body employs physiological regulation to counteract adverse noise effects, but severe noise can impair health and task performance.
• Mental workload significantly impacts physiological stress and cognitive function, with an optimal workload range for performance.
• Findings highlight the importance of managing noise and workload to maintain performance and well-being in demanding tasks.