The Electrophysiological Signature of the Mental Fatigue-induced Impairment in Endurance Performance

The purpose of this project is to provide further insights into the neurophysiology behind the MF-induced impairment in endurance performance. The aim is to perform a randomized controlled trial in which we partly replicate studies of Marcora et al. (2009) and Bigliassi et al. (2017), while extensively monitoring brain activity during the entire protocol (i.e. both cognitive and physical tasks) by using EEG.

Study Overview

• Status: Unknown
• Conditions: Mental Fatigue; Electroencephalography
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Mental Fatigue (Stroop task); Other: Control (Documentary)

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Anticipated): 25
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Matthias Proost, MSc; Phone Number: 026292753; Email: matthias.proost@vub.be

Study Locations

• Belgium
  • Elsene
    • Brussel, Elsene, Belgium, 1050
      • Human Physiology and Sports Physiotherapy Research Group

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 35 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Healthy (No neurological or cardiovascular disorders)
• Male or female
• No medication
• Non-smoker
• Between 18 and 35 years old
• Recreational athlete population (performance level 2 or 3 for men according to De Pauw et al. (2013) and performance level 2 or 3 for woman according to Decroix et al. (2016)

Exclusion Criteria:

• Injuries over the last 6 months
• Suffering from any cardiovascular condition
• Use of medication
• Suffering from other health conditions at the time of testing
• Use of caffeine or alcohol 24 hours prior to each trial
• Heavy efforts 24 hours prior to each trial

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Basic Science
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
• Masking: Double

Number of Arms

4

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Mental Fatigue (Stroop) - Chair task; Participants will be performing the Chair Task (150 submaximal dynamic knee extensions at 50% of their maximal voluntary contraction (MVC)) when mentally fatigued. A 60 minute variant of the Stroop task will be used to induce the mental fatigue. During the whole trial EEG will be measured.	Other: Mental Fatigue (Stroop task); A modified Stroop task of approximately 60 min will be used in order to induce mental fatigue (MF). This will be based on their performance during the max test that was conducted during the familiarization session. In this task, which will be partitioned in 4 blocks of 468 stimuli, four colored words ("rood", "blauw", "groen" and "geel") will be presented one at a time on a computer screen. The participants will be required to indicate the color of the word, ignoring the meaning of the word itself.
Placebo Comparator: Control Task (Documentary) - Chair Task; In the control task subjects will have to watch a documentary on the same computer screen as that used for the experimental trial. These documentaries are chosen based on their emotionally neutral, yet engaging content. This will be followed by the Chair Task, During the whole trial EEG will be measured.	Other: Control (Documentary); In the control task subjects will have to watch a documentary of 60 min on the same computer screen as the one used for the experimental trial. In order to avoid under- and over-arousal the subjects will have the opportunity to choose between several documentaries as proposed by the research team. During the control task physiological and psychological measures will be assessed at the same time points as during the mental fatigue trial.
Experimental: Mental Fatigue (Stroop) - Bike Task; Participants will be performing the Bike Task (a 9 min cycling task performed at 45 rpm with intensity being constant and will be 10% below VT) when mentally fatigued. A 60 minute variant of the Stroop task will be used to induce the mental fatigue. During the whole trial EEG will be measured.	Other: Mental Fatigue (Stroop task); A modified Stroop task of approximately 60 min will be used in order to induce mental fatigue (MF). This will be based on their performance during the max test that was conducted during the familiarization session. In this task, which will be partitioned in 4 blocks of 468 stimuli, four colored words ("rood", "blauw", "groen" and "geel") will be presented one at a time on a computer screen. The participants will be required to indicate the color of the word, ignoring the meaning of the word itself.
Placebo Comparator: Control task (Documentary) - Bike Task; In the control task subjects will have to watch a documentary on the same computer screen as that used for the experimental trial. These documentaries are chosen based on their emotionally neutral, yet engaging content. This will be followed by the Bike Task, During the whole trial EEG will be measured.	Other: Control (Documentary); In the control task subjects will have to watch a documentary of 60 min on the same computer screen as the one used for the experimental trial. In order to avoid under- and over-arousal the subjects will have the opportunity to choose between several documentaries as proposed by the research team. During the control task physiological and psychological measures will be assessed at the same time points as during the mental fatigue trial.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Electroencephalogram data	During whole of the trials EEG data will be gathered, each trial will last one and a half to two hours. EEG power in delta, theta, alpha, beta band.	1 hours 30 minutes - 2 hours
Reaction Time Flanker Task	Reaction Time will be assessed during Flanker task	Total of 10 minutes
Accuracy Flanker Task	Accuracy will be assessed during Flanker task	Total of 10 minutes
Reaction Time Stroop Task	Reaction Time will be assessed during Stroop task	60 minutes
Accuracy performance Stroop Task	Accuracy will be assessed during Stroop task	60 minutes

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Vrije Universiteit Brussel

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Anticipated): February 1, 2021
• Primary Completion (Anticipated): June 30, 2021
• Study Completion (Anticipated): July 31, 2021

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 22, 2020
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 19, 2021
• First Posted (Actual): January 22, 2021

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): January 22, 2021
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 19, 2021
• Last Verified: January 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Behavioral Symptoms; Fatigue; Mental Fatigue
• Other Study ID Numbers: MF-EEG-MRCP

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No