Gregory Gill

Topic

Cognitive Fatigue Assessment Using Electroencephalography

School of Medical Sciences

Date & location

• Wednesday, April 22, 2026
• 9:00 A.M.
• Virtual Defence

Examining Committee

Supervisory Committee

• Dr. Olav Krigolson, School of Medical Sciences, University of Victoria (Supervisor)
• Dr. Gordon Binsted, School of Health & Exercise Sciences, University of British Columbia Okanagan (Outside Member)
• Dr. Marc Klimstra, School of Exercise Science, Physical & Health Education, UVic (Outside Member)

External Examiner

• Dr. Cameron Hassall, Department of Psychology, MacEwan University

Chair of Oral Examination

• Dr. Miguel Nacenta, Department of Computer Science, UVic

Abstract

Cognitive fatigue, a state commonly experienced during prolonged tasks, is a major contributor in human response inaccuracies and impaired performance, implicating cognitive state as a leading cause of accidents, injuries, and other errors in the workplace. In this thesis, I sought to illustrate that the P300, a widely investigated event-related potential component in EEG literature and purported to be an indicator of cognitive fatigue levels in humans, can be elicited in participants while they performed under an attentionally demanding task. I hypothesized that we would see an oddball effect displayed in the covert task given to participants despite not being directed to attend to it. This would allow me to utilize this effect in real-world situations. Indeed, an oddball was detected, providing evidence that a P300 can in fact be generated without the need of using specifically attended stimuli, which can be utilized in future research as a reliable measure of fatigue when used in real-world situations such as in high sensitivity careers like long-haul truck drivers, pilots, and occupations of that nature.