Neuroergonomics¶

Status: emerging
Last updated: 2026-05-31
Sources: 9781119636113.Ch31.Pdf
Tags: [neuroergonomics, fnirs, eeg, brain-imaging, physiological-measures, mental-workload]

Summary¶

Neuroergonomics is an interdisciplinary field that investigates human brain function and its relation to everyday behaviour in real-world contexts (Ayaz, 2021, citing Ayaz & Dehais, 2019; Parasuraman, 2011). It has been driven by the rapid growth of wearable neurotechnologies together with methods from neuroscience, engineering, psychology, ergonomics, and human factors. The chapter frames the field around the brain-body-behaviour-environment continuum and contrasts portable methods such as EEG and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) with non-portable neuroimaging such as fMRI and MEG.

Body¶

Context¶

Ayaz (2021), in his handbook chapter on neuroergonomics, examines the interdisciplinary field that investigates human brain function and its relation to everyday behaviour in real-world contexts (citing Ayaz & Dehais, 2019; Parasuraman, 2011). He frames the field around the brain-body-behaviour-environment continuum and contrasts portable methods such as EEG and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) with non-portable neuroimaging such as fMRI and MEG. Within this knowledge base the article is the brain-measurement end of the physiological-state strand named as an emerging specialism in Human Factors Ergonomics Discipline: it supplies the neural signals that complement the workload indices in Mental Workload, relates to the processing stages of Information Processing and the perceptual base of Sensation And Perception, and feeds the large-volume sensor data taken up in Data Analytics In Human Factors.

Key Points¶

Neuroergonomics studies the brain at work. The field has been fuelled by the exponential growth of wearable neurotechnologies and by methodological know-how drawn from neuroscience, engineering, psychology, ergonomics, and human factors, positioning it as the application of brain science to how people perform in operational settings rather than in the laboratory alone (PDF p. 2, orig. p. 817).

The brain itself motivates the field's ambition and difficulty. Ayaz describes it as roughly one and a half kilograms of soft tissue containing about 86 billion nerve cells, each connecting to thousands of others to form trillions of connections, and notes that it remains the least understood organ. Studying such a system in real-world contexts is the methodological challenge neuroergonomics sets itself (PDF p. 1, orig. p. 816).

Method selection is shaped by portability. Ayaz organises non-invasive technologies along the brain-body-behaviour-environment continuum and distinguishes portable methods — principally EEG and fNIRS — from non-portable neuroimaging. Non-portable systems such as fMRI and MEG constrain the participant and at first sight appear unsuitable for ecological research, though their role is considered (Bandettini, 2009, cited in Ayaz, 2021). The emphasis on mobile and wearable sensors reflects the field's commitment to measuring the brain during natural activity (PDF p. 4, orig. p. 819).

Conclusion¶

Ayaz (2021) concludes that neuroergonomics extends brain measurement from the laboratory into operational environments, providing objective, continuous indices that complement the physiological measures used in workload assessment. Its defining commitment is ecological validity — measuring the brain during real tasks — which ties the field to mental workload, attention, and the broader project of using physiological signals to evaluate operator state.

References¶

Ayaz, H. & Dehais, F. (2019) Neuroergonomics: The Brain at Work and Everyday Life. Oxford: Elsevier Academic Press. To be validated.

Ayaz, H. (2021) 'Neuroergonomics', in Salvendy, G. & Karwowski, W. (eds.) Handbook of Human Factors and Ergonomics. 5th edn. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. ayaz2021neuroergonomics

Bandettini, P. A. (2009) 'What's new in neuroimaging methods?', Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1156, p. 260. To be validated.

Parasuraman, R. (2011) 'Neuroergonomics: Brain, cognition, and performance at work', Current Directions in Psychological Science, 20(3), pp. 181–186. To be validated.

Open Questions¶

How can portable neuroimaging achieve the signal quality of non-portable systems while preserving ecological validity?
How should the large data volumes from wearable neurotechnologies be distilled into actionable operator-state measures?