neurophysiological markers of cognitive failures in drivers: an electroencephalography study

Introduction: cognitive failures (cfs) during driving significantly contribute to traffic accidents and fatalities. this study aimed to investigate neurophysiological markers of cf in drivers using electroencephalography (eeg).methods: thirty taxi drivers were classified into high and low cf groups based on cf questionnaire (cfq) scores. eeg signals were recorded during eyes-closed rest and eyes-open go/no-go (gng) tasks to assess brainwave patterns and lobe-specific activation. statistical analyses included t-tests, repeated measures analysis of variance (anova), and pearson's correlations. results: drivers with high cf showed reduced delta, theta, and gamma activity—particularly in the temporal and occipital lobes—suggesting impaired cognitive processing. in contrast, low-failure drivers exhibited increased delta, theta, and alpha power in frontal and occipital regions. elevated beta activity in the parietal lobe of high-failure drivers may reflect compensatory processing. gamma power was consistently lower across all brain regions in this group.conclusion: these results highlight specific eeg frequency bands as potential objective markers for identifying cf in drivers, offering implications for early cognitive assessment and the development of evidence-based safety strategies in driving contexts.