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：脑信号分析对于提升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教育方式而日益受到认可。本研究开展了一项包含十二名参与者的先导实验，参与者被分为实验组和对照组，旨在探究游戏学习对认知过程的影响。两组均学习了关于图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。研究采用功能性近红外光谱技术（fNIRS）采集大脑信号，并进行了前后测系列评估。研究结果表明，参与游戏活动的组别表现出更高的氧合血红蛋白水平，而观看视频的组别则较低。相反，两组在整个学习过程中脱氧血红蛋白水平保持相对一致。上述发现表明，游戏学习对认知过程有显著影响。此外，游戏组和视频组均在前外侧前额叶皮层（PFC）表现出更高的神经活动。氧合血红蛋白比率显示，游戏组在前外侧PFC的神经处理量是视频组的2.33倍。这一数据进一步得到了知识增益分析的支持，该分析表明，基于游戏的方法较视频组带来了47.74%更高的知识增益，该结果基于前后测成绩差异计算得出。