Abstract
The aim of this study was to examine the effect of mental fatigue on postural sway under different sensory conditions in healthy older adults and in persons with chronic stroke (PwCS). Thirty healthy older adults (> 60 years old), randomly separated into experimental and control groups, as well as 15 PwCS participated in this study. Experimental groups were asked to stand on a force platform wearing seven inertial sensors while performing the Sensory Organization Test (SOT) under two cognitive conditions (single- and dual-task) before and after a mental fatigue task (stop-signal task for 60 min). The control group performed the same protocol before and after watching a movie for 60 min. Changes in subjective fatigue was assessed by the NASA Task Load Index and psychophysiological workload was assessed by heart rate variability (HRV). Postural sway was assessed by calculating the Jerk and root mean square (RMS) of center of mass (COM). Higher Jerk and RMS of COM (p < 0.05) were observed after the mental fatigue task in both healthy older adults and PwCS during SOT, which was not observed in the control group (p > 0.05). Additionally, postural sway increased in the three groups as the SOT conditions became more challenging. Our results indicate that mental fatigue, induced by sustained cognitive activity, can impair balance during SOT in older adult and stroke populations.
Highlights
Fatigue is one of the most common and disturbing symptoms in stroke and aging populations [1,2,3], with negative impacts on quality of life, self-esteem, and employability [4,5]
Some authors prefer to use the term cognitive fatigue to describe the psychobiological state associated with sustained cognitive activity, there is a consensus to use the term mental fatigue to include motivational and emotional aspects associated with task accomplishment [6]
The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of mental fatigue, induced by sustained cognitive activity, on postural sway while performing the Sensory Organization Test (SOT) under single- and dual-task conditions in healthy older adults and persons with chronic stroke (PwCS)
Summary
Fatigue is one of the most common and disturbing symptoms in stroke and aging populations [1,2,3], with negative impacts on quality of life, self-esteem, and employability [4,5]. Evidence indicates that older adults [2], people with cognitive impairments [7], and people with neurological disorders [3] often experience mental fatigue to a greater extent than young adults and their healthy counterparts that can impact the performance of daily activities [6]. When these populations perform dual-task paradigms, in which postural control and cognitive tasks are performed simultaneously, they experience greater cognitive-motor interference demonstrated by performance deteriorations in either motor and/or cognitive tasks [8,9,10].
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