Effects of Workstation Type on Mental Stress: FNIRS Study

Abstract

Objective The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of the workstation type on the severity of mental stress by means of measuring prefrontal cortex (PFC) activation using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Background Workstation type is known to influence worker’s health and performance. Despite the practical implications of ergonomic workstations, limited information is available regarding their impact on brain activity and executive functions. Method Ten healthy participants performed a Montreal imaging stress task (MIST) in ergonomic and nonergonomic workstations to investigate their effects on the severity of the induced mental stress. Results Cortical hemodynamic changes in the PFC were observed during the MIST in both the ergonomic and nonergonomic workstations. However, the ergonomic workstation exhibited improved MIST performance, which was positively correlated with the cortical activation on the right ventrolateral and the left dorsolateral PFC, as well as a marked decrease in salivary alpha‐amylase activity compared with that of the nonergonomic workstation. Further analysis using the NASA Task Load Index revealed a higher weighted workload score in the nonergonomic workstation than that in the ergonomic workstation. Conclusion The findings suggest that ergonomic workstations could significantly improve cognitive functioning and human capabilities at work compared to a nonergonomic workstation. Application Such a study could provide critical information on workstation design and development of mental stress that can be overlooked during traditional workstation design and mental stress assessments.

Investigating Frontal Neurovascular Coupling in Response to Workplace Design-Related Stress

“…In addition, substantial differences between the SE and SNE groups in HbO values were observed in comparison with HbR values ( Fig. 6; Table 1), which are consistent with the previous studies [6,54] and indicate that changes in HbO are more apparent under stressful situations. A significant increase in the HbO values was observed in the SE group in comparison with the SNE group, which demonstrated a marked decrease in HbO values in the right PFC (Fig.…”

“…This study highlights the workplace environment and psychosocial stressors, and their interactions and effects on the severity of mental stress. Evidence has emerged that uncomfortable working conditions could affect workers' comfort and increase their stress symptoms [4][5][6], resulting in disorders related to hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activation, such as cardiovascular and hypertensive diseases [7][8][9]. The use of functional neuroimaging has contributed to a better understanding of the neural correlates of stress and other mental states.…”

“…The use of functional neuroimaging has contributed to a better understanding of the neural correlates of stress and other mental states. Recent studies have revealed that combining electrophysiology and hemodynamics could further improve our understanding of cognitive function [6,10,11] and enhance medical diagnostics [12]. The localized neural activity is followed by dynamic and complex biological functions, such as the generation of electrical activity and synchronized metabolic variation [13].…”

Frontal Electroencephalogram Alpha Asymmetry during Mental Stress Related to Workplace Noise

“…In real life, workplace stressors can be found individually or combined in various forms, including psychosocial and environmental stressors, which have adverse effects on employees’ health and wellbeing [ 7 ]. Psychosocial stressors such as time constraints, high workload, and job characteristics put employees under tremendous psychological and social strains, which negatively affect their performance [ 8 ], precision [ 9 ], and decisions [ 10 ]. Besides, environmental stressors such as noise have been reported to impair cognitive performance by disturbing the decision-making process and attention selection [ 11 ].…”

“…sAA is a salivary enzyme involved in the metabolism of carbohydrates and starches. It has emerged as a valid and reliable marker for sympathetic activity [ 8 , 21 , 22 ]. The sAA is responsive to stress stimuli and substantially increased in response to them.…”