The Effect of Mental Fatigue on Cognitive and Aerobic Performance in Adolescent Active Endurance Athletes: Insights from a Randomized Counterbalanced, Cross-Over Trial.

Maamer Slimani,Nicola Bragazzi,Mohamed Zguira,Hela Znazen,David Tod

doi:10.3390/jcm7120510

Abstract

The aim of this randomized counterbalanced, 2 × 2 cross-over study was to investigate the effects of mental fatigue on cognitive and aerobic performance in adolescent active endurance athletes. Ten active male endurance athletes (age = 16 ± 1.05 years, height = 1.62 ± 0.04 m, body mass = 55.5 ± 4.2 kg) were familiarized to all experimental procedures on day 1. On days 2 and 3, participants provided a rating of mental fatigue before and after completing a 30 min Stroop test that measures selective attention capacity and skills and their processing speed ability (mentally fatigued condition), or a 30 min control condition in a randomized counterbalanced order. They then performed d2 test and a 20 m multistage fitness test (MSFT), which was used to measure selective and sustained attention and visual scanning speed (i.e., concentration performance (CP) and total number of errors (E)) and aerobic fitness (i.e., maximum oxygen uptake (VO2max) and velocity at which VO2max occurs (vVO2max)), respectively. Rating of perceived exertion (RPE) was assessed after a MSFT. Subjective ratings of mental fatigue were higher after the Stroop task (p < 0.001). CP (p = 0.0.1), E (p < 0.001), vVO2max (p = 0.020), and estimated VO2max (p = 0.021) values were negatively affected by mental fatigue. RPE were significantly higher in the mentally fatigued than in the control conditions (p = 0.02) post-MSFT. Mental fatigue impairs aerobic and cognitive performance in active male endurance athletes.

Highlights

Mental fatigue, which has subjective, behavioral and physiological manifestations, is a psychobiological state induced by prolonged periods of demanding cognitive activity [1]
Most previous studies that have examined the effects of mental fatigue on physical performance have revealed that mental fatigue does not affect maximal strength, power, and anaerobic work capacity [10,11,12,13]
The present study showed that a lower Rating of perceived exertion (RPE) after the multistage fitness test (MSFT) in the non-mentally fatigued condition compared to the mental fatigue condition was associated with an increase in estimated VO2max performance

Summary

Introduction

Mental fatigue, which has subjective, behavioral and physiological manifestations, is a psychobiological state induced by prolonged periods of demanding cognitive activity [1]. Mental fatigue has been consistently shown to decrease endurance performance, as assessed using different tests such as time-clamped self-paced running/cycling protocols and the Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test (decreased time to exhaustion, lowered self-selected power output/velocity, or increased completion time [15]). These investigations have highlighted the negative effect of mental fatigue in adult team-sport athletes

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Conclusion