Understand and characterize mental effort in a programming-oriented task

The human brain is a very complex physiological system, involving billions of interacting physiological and chemical processes giving rise to the experimentally observed neuroelectrical activity measured through electroencephalographic signals (EEG). An EEG can reflect the state of mind and the human brain activity. The aim of this research was to analyze several important cognitive parameters (Attention, Meditation) using the Neurosky Mindwave Mobile Headset and EEG analyzer application, while students performed a programming problem-solving oriented task. The variability of Theta and Beta bands energy during the tasks was studied to understand its relation to the cognitive parameters. Our results suggest that beta frequency energy increased when the tasks demanded a higher level of reasoning, when a change in the task paradigm happened, when participants showed more difficulties or when they needed more time to complete tasks (Attention). On the other hand, a high level of energy in theta band was found in states of drowsiness and deep relaxation (Meditation).