Portable EEG for assessing attention in educational settings: A scoping review

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Educational Technology
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Portable electroencephalography (EEG) enables naturalistic measurement of neural attention correlates.
• The field is nascent, characterized by diverse research goals and methods.
• This scoping review synthesizes current knowledge on portable EEG for attention studies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To clarify the research aims of studies utilizing portable EEG for attention.
• To delineate the methodologies employed for portable EEG data collection.
• To identify the EEG measures used to quantify attention.

Main Methods:

• Scoping review following PRISMA-ScR guidelines.
• Data extraction by two independent authors.
• Analysis of 45 eligible studies on portable EEG and attention.

Main Results:

• Key research aims included: learning factors (n=23), algorithm/software development (n=17), and signal quality verification (n=5).
• Studies predominantly used out-of-lab controlled settings and structured learning materials.
• Most studies (n=37) adopted data-driven approaches using machine learning, while 8 used theory-driven methods.

Conclusions:

• Portable EEG shows potential for measuring attention in educational contexts.
• Challenges remain in translating cognitive neuroscience findings into practical applications.
• Opportunities exist for refining methodologies and applications of portable EEG for attention monitoring.