Mental Fatigue
Conditions
Keywords
Mental Fatigue, Upper Extremity, Physical Performance, Functional Testing, Sports Medicine, Cognitive Performance, Visuomotor Reaction Time, Upper Quarter Y Balance Test
Brief summary
Mental fatigue (MF) is known to impair cognitive performance and may negatively affect physical performance. While its effects on lower-extremity functional performance have been investigated, little is known about the influence of MF on upper-extremity physical performance tests commonly used in sports and rehabilitation settings. This randomized crossover study will investigate the effects of experimentally induced mental fatigue on upper-extremity physical performance in 16 healthy physically active adults. Participants will complete both a mental fatigue condition, involving a prolonged Stroop task, and a control condition consisting of watching an emotionally neutral documentary. Before and after each condition, participants will perform the Upper Quarter Y Balance Test, Reactive Upper Quarter Y Balance Test, Closed Kinetic Chain Upper Extremity Stability Test, and Seated Single-Arm Shot Put Test. Subjective mental fatigue, cognitive performance, motivation, and perceived exertion will also be assessed. The findings will improve understanding of whether mental fatigue influences upper-extremity physical performance test outcomes and may assist clinicians and researchers in interpreting these assessments in sports medicine and rehabilitation contexts.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALMental Fatigue
Mental fatigue (MF) is a psychobiological state characterized by feelings of tiredness and/or a measurable decline in performance following prolonged or intense cognitive activity.
Sponsors
Izmir Bakircay University
Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
CROSSOVER
Primary purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
SINGLE (Subject)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 35 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Age between 18 and 35 years * Healthy (no neurological, cardiovascular or musculoskeletal disorders of any kind) * Male or female * No prior knowledge of the concept of mental fatigue * Not currently taking medications that affect cognition or neuromuscular performance * According to the International Physical Activity Questionnaire, being physically active at a minimum level of 1500 MET-min/week
Exclusion criteria
* Previous major upper limb injury (last 6 months) * Involvement in another concurrent physical or cognitive intervention study * Use of caffeine and heavy efforts 24 hours prior each trial * Suffering from colour vision deficiencies * Not eating a standardized meal, the morning of each trial and the evening before each trial
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Reactive Upper Quarter Y Balance Test | Pre-intervention and immediately post-intervention (each experimental and control condition session) | Measures visuomotor reaction time, reaching accuracy, and balance errors during a reactive upper quarter Y balance test performed under visual stimuli conditions. |
| Closed Kinetic Chain Upper Extremity Stability Test | Pre-intervention and immediately post-intervention (each session) | Assesses upper-extremity muscular endurance and stability by counting the number of alternating hand touches performed in a 15-second push-up position task. |
| Upper Quarter Y Balance Test | Pre-intervention and immediately post-intervention (each session) | Evaluates dynamic upper-extremity reach performance and composite score based on normalized reach distances in three directions. |
| Seated Single-Arm Shot Put Test | Pre-intervention and immediately post-intervention (each session) | Measures upper-extremity explosive power based on throwing distance of a 6-lb medicine ball. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Subjective Mental Fatigue | Baseline, every 5 minutes during intervention, and post-intervention (each session) | Subjective Mental Fatigue measured using the Mental Visual Analog Scale (M-VAS). The scale ranges from 0 to 100, where 0 indicates no mental fatigue and 100 indicates the highest level of mental fatigue imaginable. Higher scores indicate worse mental fatigue. |
| Go/No-Go Task | Immediately post-intervention (each session) | Assesses executive function using a computerized Go/No-Go task. Outcomes include reaction time (milliseconds) and response accuracy (percentage of correct responses, ranging from 0% to 100%). Higher accuracy indicates better executive function performance, while shorter reaction times indicate better performance. |
| Motivation State | Pre- and post-intervention (each session) | Assesses task-related motivation using the Assessment of Motivational States in Performance Environments questionnaire. The questionnaire includes two 7-item subscales: Interest Motivation and Success Motivation. Higher scores indicate greater task engagement, interest in the task, and motivation to perform successfully. |
| Perceived Exertion | Immediately after physical performance testing (each session) | Assesses perceived exertion using the Borg Rating of Perceived Exertion Scale. Scores range from 6 to 20, with higher scores indicating greater perceived exertion. |
| Stroop Task Performance | During intervention (continuous, averaged per block) | Assesses cognitive performance using a computerized Stroop task. Outcomes include reaction time (milliseconds) and response accuracy (percentage of correct responses, ranging from 0% to 100%). Higher accuracy and shorter reaction times indicate better cognitive performance. |
Countries
Belgium
Contacts
CONTACTNieka Coryn, MSc
CONTACTGürsu Sayar, MSc
STUDY_DIRECTORBart Roelands, Professor
Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Outcome results
None listed