The analysis of brain signals holds considerable importance in enhancing our comprehension of diverse learning techniques and cognitive mechanisms. Game-based learning is increasingly being recognized for its interactive and engaging educational approach. A pilot study of twelve participants divided into experimental and control groups was conducted to understand its effects on cognitive processes. Both groups were provided with the same contents regarding the basic structure of the graph. The participants in the experimental group engaged in a quiz-based game, while those in the control group watched a pre-recorded video. Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) was employed to acquire cerebral signals, and a series of pre and post-tests were administered. The findings of our study indicate that the group engaged in the game activity displayed elevated levels of oxygenated hemoglobin compared to the group involved in watching videos. Conversely, the deoxygenated hemoglobin levels remained relatively consistent across both groups throughout the learning process. The aforementioned findings suggest that the use of game-based learning has a substantial influence on cognitive processes. Furthermore, it is evident that both the game and video groups exhibited higher neural activity in the Lateral Prefrontal cortex (PFC). The oxygenated hemoglobin ratio demonstrates that the game group had 2.33 times more neural processing in the Lateral PFC than the video group. This data is further supported by the knowledge gain analysis, which indicates that the game-based approach resulted in a 47.74% higher knowledge gain than the video group, as calculated from the difference in pre-and post-test scores.

翻译：大脑信号分析对于加深我们对不同学习技术与认知机制的理解具有重要意义。游戏学习因其互动性和参与性的教育方式而日益受到认可。为探究其对认知过程的影响，我们开展了一项包含十二名参与者的先导研究，并将其分为实验组和对照组。两组参与者均学习了关于图形基本结构的相同内容。实验组参与者参与了一项基于测验的游戏，而对照组则观看了一段预先录制的视频。研究采用了功能性近红外光谱技术获取脑信号，并实施了一系列前后测。研究结果表明，参与游戏活动的小组其氧合血红蛋白水平高于观看视频的小组。相反，两组在整个学习过程中的脱氧血红蛋白水平保持相对一致。上述发现表明，游戏学习方法对认知过程具有显著影响。此外，显而易见的是，游戏组和视频组在外侧前额叶皮层均表现出更高的神经活动。氧合血红蛋白比率显示，游戏组在外侧前额叶皮层的神经处理活动是视频组的2.33倍。这一数据还得到了知识增益分析的支持，该分析表明，根据前后测分数差异计算，基于游戏的方法比视频组的知识增益高出47.74%。