Effects on Fractal Dimension by Automobile Driver's EEG during Highway Driving : Based on Chaos Theory

직선 고속 주행시 운전자의 뇌파가 프랙탈 차원에 미치는 영향: 카오스 이론을 중심으로

In this study, the psycho-physiological response of drivers was investigated in terms of EEG(Electroencephalogram), especially with the fractal dimensions computed by Chaotic algorithm. The Chaotic algorithm Is well Known to sensitively analyze the non-linear information such as brain waves. An automobile with a fully equipped data acquisition system was used to collect the data. Ten healthy subjects participated in the experiment. EEG data were collected while subjects were driving the car between Won-ju and Shin-gal J.C. on Young-Dong highway The results were presented in terms of 3-Dimensional attractor to confirm the chaotic nature of the EEG data. The correlation dimension and fractal dimension were calculated to evaluate the complexity of the brain activity as the driving duration changes. In particular, the fractal dimension indicated a difference between the driving condition and non-driving condition while other spectral variables showed inconsistent results. Based upon the fractal dimension, drivers processed the most information at the beginning of the highway driving and the amount of brain activity gradually decreased and stabilized. No particular decrease of brain activity was observed even after 100 km driving. Considering the sensitivity and consistency of the analysis by Chaotic algorithm, the fractal dimension can be a useful parameter to evaluate the psycho-physiological responses of human brain at various driving conditions.