NSF Award
2320491
Cognitive workload refers to the level of mental effort put forth by an individual in response to a cognitive task. Unfortunately, no technology currently exists that can monitor an individual’s levels of cognitive workload in real-world environments using a seamless, reliable, and low-cost approach. We propose to fill this gap by using a novel magnetocardiography (MCG) system worn upon the subject’s chest to allow the sensor to collect the magnetic fields that are naturally emanated by the heart and associated with brain activity. This science is anticipated to greatly accelerate progress in such diverse disciplines as pediatric concussion recovery, pilot training, improved user-machine interfaces, injury prevention in construction environments, increased human performance in risky missions, and improved education outcomes. In addition to advances in basic science, the proposed research is expected to be of significant interest to students and the public. Through targeting interdisciplinary education and diverse recruitment, we intend to expose new audiences to STEM concepts via workshops and family-friendly outings. <br/><br/>The proposed MCG sensor is smartly integrated in a Cyber-Physical System (CPS) with two inter-connected loops: (a) a human-in-the-loop that addresses changes in the thresholds of different cognitive states as a function of time, and (b) a non-human-in-the-loop that adapts the system’s algorithmic and hardware components for high-accuracy classification of cognitive workload with minimum resource usage. Our goals are to: (1) Build a knowledgebase concerning the impact of hardware/algorithmic advances upon MCG sensor performance in real-world settings. (2) Explore the classification of cognitive workload from MCG data and close the loop with the wearer for dynamic calibrations that address the time-varying thresholds of cognitive states. (3) Ensure operability in dynamic real-world settings and close the loop between the cyber and physical sides for minimal resource usage. (4) Validate the CPS within the framework of measuring cognitive workload for children with concussion. Without loss of generality, we select this population given the immense clinical potential: the effects of cognitive activity on pediatric concussion recovery are currently unknown, largely due to the difficulties in quantifying cognitive activity workload.<br/><br/>This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
