REVIEW article
Front. Neuroergonomics
Sec. Cognitive Neuroergonomics
This article is part of the Research TopicReviews in NeuroergonomicsView all articles
The state of the art in assessing mental fatigue in the cockpit using head-worn sensing technology
Provisionally accepted
Anneke Hamann1*
Carmen van Klaren2
Rolf Zon2
Frederic Dehais3Nils Carstengerdes1
Maykel van Miltenburg2Kalou Cabrera Castillos3- 1German Aerospace Center (DLR), Cologne, Germany
- 2Koninklijk Nederlands Lucht- en Ruimtevaartcentrum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- 3ISAE-SUPAERO, Toulouse, France
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Mental fatigue is an important construct for aviation as it can impact pilots' performance. However, its assessment has been and still is challenging. Most research done in this field is based on basic laboratory experiments, and the measurement methods in use have certain limits one needs to overcome in order to apply them in a cockpit. In this review, we present an overview of research on mental fatigue, its assessment and the gap between fundamental research and its application in aviation. We provide an overview over classical experimental paradigms for mental fatigue induction and subjective measures, as well as advanced head-worn sensing technologies (or such that target head and face), namely electroencephalography (EEG), functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and eye-tracking. For each measure, we discuss limitations and open challenges. Finally, we draw conclusions on the feasibility of integrating the measurements into the cockpit. We also highlight gaps that future research needs to bridge.
Keywords: Aviation, EEG, Eye-tracking, fNIRS, Incapacitation, Mental Fatigue, Physiology, pilots
Received: 25 Jul 2025; Accepted: 12 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Hamann, van Klaren, Zon, Dehais, Carstengerdes, van Miltenburg and Cabrera Castillos. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Anneke Hamann
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