Quantifying Cognitive Load using EEG during Ambulation and Postural Tasks
Margaret M. Swerdloff, Levi J. Hargrove
Abstract
Cognitive load may be an important outcome measure for the effectiveness of assistive devices such as prostheses and exoskeletons, but cognitive load is not adequately assessed in part due to the indirect physiological measures traditionally used for evaluation. Robust, direct measures are now available through mobile electroencephalography (EEG), but there are no standard protocols for measuring cognitive load during ambulatory and postural activities. Here we provide a proof-of-concept protocol for measuring cognitive load using an auditory oddball cognitive task to elicit P3 event-related potentials (ERP) during three tasks: sitting, standing, and walking on a treadmill. Our results show that this protocol successfully elicited P3 in each task, with as little as 5 minutes of data collection per task. We found a difference in P3 during sitting and walking after approximately 30 minutes of task completion, indicating that the cognitive load of walking was higher than that of sitting (p = .012).