Review of electroencephalography signals approaches for mental stress assessment

Abstract

The innovation of electroencephalography (EEG) more than a century ago supports the technique to assess brain structure and function in clinical health and research applications. The EEG signals were identified on their frequency ranges as delta (from 0.5 to 4 Hz), theta (from 4 to 7 Hz), alpha (from 8 to 12 Hz), beta (from 16 to 31 Hz), and gamma (from 36 to 90 Hz). Stress is a sense of emotional tension caused by several life events. For example, worrying about something, being under pressure, and facing significant challenges are causes of stress. The human body is affected by stress in various ways. It promotes inflammation, which affects cardiac health. The autonomic nervous system is activated during mental stress. Posttraumatic stress disorder and Alzheimer’s disease are common brain stress disorders. Several methods have been used previously to identify stress, for instance, magnetic resonance imaging, single-photon emission computed tomography and EEG. The EEG identifies the electrical activity in the human brain by applying small electrodes positioned on the scalp of the brain. It is a useful non-invasive method and collects feedback from stress hormones. In addition, it can serve as a reliable tool for measuring stress. Furthermore, evaluating human stress in real-time is complicated and challenging. This review demonstrates the power of frequency bands for mental stress and the behaviors of frequency bands based on medical and research experiencebands based on medical and research experience.