Investigation of lapses of consciousness using a tracking task: preliminary results

Malik R Peiris; Richard Jones; Grant Carroll; Philip Bones

doi:10.1109/IEMBS.2004.1404307

Investigation of lapses of consciousness using a tracking task: preliminary results

Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2004:2004:4721-4. doi: 10.1109/IEMBS.2004.1404307.

Authors

Malik R Peiris¹, Richard Jones, Grant Carroll, Philip Bones

Affiliation

¹ Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Canterbury University, Christchurch, New Zealand.

PMID: 17271363
DOI: 10.1109/IEMBS.2004.1404307

Abstract

In many high-risk occupations, it is critical that a person remains alert at all times. There is much to be gained by being able to monitor a person on-line and detect lapses of consciousness (LoC) so that remedial action can be taken (e.g., a rest break) to ensure that safety is maintained. In this study, 15 normal subjects were observed on two sessions while they performed a continuous tracking task for a period of 1 hour. EEG, eye movements, tracking performance data and a video of the subject were recorded during the session. This work presents some preliminary results on the phenomenon of lapsing. Only 4 of the 15 subjects did not have a LoC at some stage. Seven subjects had LoCs more than 45 times and 4 more than 100 times during the 2 hours. The mean rate of lapsing over all subjects was 29.1 LoC/h. In contrast, lapses in performance were caused by both lapses of consciousness (30.1%) and attention (69.9%). There was no correlation found between age of subject and number of lapses of consciousness.