Mindfulness, Mental Fatigue, Inhibitory Control and Endurance Performance in Athletes

Effects of Mental Fatigue on Inhibitory Control and Endurance Performance in Athletes With Different Levels of Dispositional Mindfulness: An Event-Related Potential Study

This study investigated whether trait mindfulness in athletes is associated with impairments in neurocognitive function and endurance performance resulting from mental fatigue.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Mental Fatigue
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Mental fatigue condition; Behavioral: Control condition

Detailed Description

Recent research suggests that mental fatigue by prolonged cognitive tasks would impair neurocognitive functions (e.g., executive functions, brain activity) and sports performance, especially inhibitory control and endurance performance. On the other hand, individuals with higher dispositional mindfulness have been linked to greater athletic performance and cognitive functions. Still, there is little known whether higher dispositional mindfulness counteracts the detrimental effects of mental fatigue on endurance performance and inhibitory control in athletes. Therefore, this study is conducted to investigate whether dispositional mindfulness mediates the effects of mental fatigue on neurocognitive functions and endurance performance in athletes.

The qualified participants will visit the lab on two counterbalanced order occasions to complete either a modified incongruent Stroop task (mental fatigue condition, MF) or a modified congruent Stroop task (control condition, CON) for 30 minutes. Before and after each cognitive task, participants will be measured for their subjective mental fatigue by a visual analog scale (VAS). After each cognitive task, inhibitory control and endurance performance will be evaluated by a Flanker task and a graded exercise test (GXT), respectively. Furthermore, the general and athletic dispositional mindfulness will be measured using the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ).

Specifically, the targeted primary outcomes are neurocognitive functions (i.e., reaction time, accuracy and ERPs in Flanker task) and endurance performance (i.e., VO2max & time to exhaustion in GXT); The secondary outcomes are subjective (i.e., VAS score)/objective (i.e., reaction time, accuracy in Stroop task) mental fatigue, motivation in tasks, mood (i.e., BRUMS-C).

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 90
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Taiwan
  • Taipei, Taiwan, 106
    • Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, National Taiwan Normal University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 25 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Regular sports training at least 4 hours weekly
2. Normal or corrected-to-normal vision
3. Right-handed

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Physical limitation or injury in lower limbs before and during the study
2. Diagnosed or self-reported neurological disorders (e.g., epilepsy)
3. Diagnosed or self-reported major psychiatric illness (e.g., major depression, schizophrenia)

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Screening
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Mental Fatigue Condition, Then Control Condition; Performing a completed incongruent version of Stroop task for 30min in mental fatigue condition. Then performing a completed congruent version of Stroop task for 30min in control condition.	Behavioral: Mental fatigue condition; In mental fatigue condition, the mental fatigue manipulation will use a modified Stroop task with complete incongruent trials, which is wildly used to induce a mentally fatigued state in previous studies. The Stroop task included four colored words presented in traditional Chinese (i.e., red, green, blue, and yellow), the color of the word will paint inconsistent with the semantic meaning of the word (e.g., red word printed in green). The task consisted of five 6-minute blocks and 1080 incongruent trials for each block. The total duration will be 30-min.
Experimental: Control Condition, Then Mental Fatigue Condition; Performing a completed congruent version of Stroop task for 30min in Control condition. Then performing a completed incongruent version of Stroop task for 30min in mental fatigue condition.	Behavioral: Control condition; Similar to mental fatigue conditions, the modified Stroop task with complete congruent trials will be used, The Stroop task also included four colored words presented in traditional Chinese (i.e., red, green, blue, and yellow), but the color of the word will paint consistent with the semantic meaning of the word (e.g., red word printed in red) in order to set up the match condition of relative less cognitive demanding for participants. Same with the mental fatigue condition, the task consisted of five 6-minute blocks and 1080 congruent trials for each block. The total duration will be 30-min.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Inhibitory Control: Reaction Time	Inhibitory control will be evaluated by a Flanker task in terms of reaction time in this study, and the types of trials are the congruent (i.e., > > > > >) and incongruent (i.e., < < > < <). In the Flanker task, participants were presented with five arrows and instructed to respond as quickly and accurately as possible to the direction where the middle arrow is pointing (i.e., left or right).	From enrollment to the end of second intervention at 1 week. During Flanker task, up to 15 minutes.
Inhibitory Control: Accuracy	Inhibitory control will be evaluated by a Flanker task in terms of accuracy in this study, and the types of trials are the congruent (i.e., > > > > >) and incongruent (i.e., < < > < <). In the Flanker task, participants were presented with five arrows and instructed to respond as quickly and accurately as possible to the direction where the middle arrow is pointing (i.e., left or right).	From enrollment to the end of second intervention at 1 week. During Flanker task, up to 15 minutes.
Endurance Performance: Time to Exhaustion	The endurance performance in terms of time to exhaustion (TTE) will be assessed by graded exercise test (GXT) with Bruce protocol on treadmill (h/p/cosmos pulsar 3p, Germany). The initial speed and grade of the GXT will be set at 2.74 km/hr with grade of 10% and increase speed and grade every 3 min until participants are volitionally exhausted.	From enrollment to the end of second intervention at 1 week. During graded exercise test, up to 30 minutes
Endurance Performance: Maximum Oxygen Consumption	The maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) throughout the whole GXT will be recorded by a computerized indirect calorimetry system (SensorMedics Vmax 29C, USA), and until the participants reached volitional exhaustion. The VO2max in the study will be defined as the highest 30-s average value of VO2 measured during GXT.	From enrollment to the end of second intervention at 1 week. During graded exercise test, up to 30 minutes.
Changes in Neuroelectrical Activities	Neuroelectrical activity during the Flanker task was recorded using electroencephalography (EEG) with continuous data acquisition throughout task performance. Changes in neuroelectrical activity were operationalized as differences in event-related potential (ERP) amplitudes during the Flanker task (e.g., N2 and P3 components). The mean amplitudes of the N2 and P3 were quantified within predefined time windows of 250-350 ms and 350-550 ms, respectively, following stimulus onset.	From enrollment to the end of second intervention at 1 week. During Flanker task, up to 15 minutes.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Subjective Mental Fatigue	Before, after Stroop task, and after Flanker task, changes in subjective mental fatigue was measured using a visual analog scale for mental fatigue (VAS-MF). Participants were asked the following questions "What is your mental fatigue level now?", and participants could indicate how mental fatigue on a scale from 0 (i.e., no mental fatigue at all) to 100 (i.e., completely mentally exhausted).	Three standardized time points within each experimental session at baseline and post-intervention: T0 (before the Stroop task), T1 (after the Stroop task), and T2 (after the Flanker task).
Objective Mental Fatigue: Reaction Time in Stroop Task	During the intervention, the reaction time in both Stroop tasks was calculated as an index of objective mental fatigue.	From enrollment to the end of second intervention at 1 week. During Stroop task, up to 30 minutes.
Objective Mental Fatigue: Accuracy in Stroop Task	During the intervention, the accuracy in both Stroop tasks was calculated as an index of objective mental fatigue.	From enrollment to the end of second intervention at 1 week. During Stroop task, up to 30 minutes.
Mood State	Mood state was determined by the difference in scores on the Brunel Mood Scale-Chinese (BRUMS-C) between before (i.e., T0) and after (i.e., T1) Stroop task. The BRUMS-C consists of 23 items rated on a 5-point Likert scale and comprises six subscales: anger, confusion, depression, tension, fatigue, and vigor. Each subscale score is calculated as the mean of its corresponding items, with possible scores ranging from 0 to 4. Higher mean scores indicate greater intensity of the respective mood state.	Two standardized time points within each experimental session at baseline and post-intervention: T0 (before the Stroop task) and T1 (after the Stroop task).
Motivation	The level of effort exerted by participants during the Flanker task and GXT was assessed using the VAS for motivation (VAS-M). Immediately after completing each task, participants were also asked to mark a 100mm line to rate their motivation to perform at their best (i.e., "How motivated are you to perform to the best of your ability in the task?") on a scale ranging from 0, indicating "not at all," to 100, indicating "extremely motivated."	From enrollment to the end of second intervention at 1 week. Immediately after completing Flanker task and GXT.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: National Taiwan Normal University
• Investigators: Study Director: Yu-Kai Chang, Ph.D, Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, National Taiwan Normal University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): April 20, 2022
• Primary Completion (Actual): October 31, 2022
• Study Completion (Actual): October 31, 2022

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: July 6, 2022
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 17, 2022
• First Posted (Actual): July 20, 2022

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 16, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 13, 2026
• Last Verified: March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Mindfulness; Athletes; Inhibitory control; Endurance performance; Mental fatigue
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Behavioral Symptoms; Fatigue; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Behavior; Signs and Symptoms; Mental Fatigue
• Other Study ID Numbers: PACNL_JT_MF_Trait

Drug and device information, study documents

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