Department of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University, PA, USA.
Clin Neurophysiol. 2012 Feb;123(2):278-84. doi: 10.1016/j.clinph.2011.06.027. Epub 2011 Jul 27.
Mental fatigue, a poorly understood symptom of sports-related concussion, ideally requires assessment across multiple modalities. Our study aimed to examine mental fatigue effects among 10 neurologically normal, athletically active students undergoing typical concussion testing. It is our intention to ultimately address the question whether fatigue effects due to mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) may become confounded with fatigue effects due to testing effort.
Fourteen athletically active and neurologically normal volunteers were initially recruited from Penn State University. Self-reported fatigue, neuropsychological performance, and electroencephalographic (EEG) activity were measured throughout the whole testing duration. EEG measures in frequency domain (e.g., relative power of theta, alpha, and beta bands) were examined over the course of neuropsychological (NP) test administration.
Predicted fatigue effects over the course of testing included: (a) increased self-reported fatigue; (b) increased errors on the Stroop Interference Test; (c) significantly increased relative power of theta activity during the Stroop Interference Test in frontal-central and parietal regions; and (d) migration of alpha activation from the occipital to anterior (left parietal and pre-central) regions during the Stroop Interference task administered at the beginning compared with the end of testing.
Results supported predictions related to subjective fatigue and cognitive performance and offered partial support for predictions related to EEG activation patterns over the course of administering the NP testing.
Neurologically intact and athletically active college students demonstrate effects related to fatigue after undergoing a typical sports concussion assessment battery, including an increase in subjectively experienced fatigue, a decrease in cognitive task performance accuracy and associated modulations in EEG activity. This finding should be considered by clinical practitioners while evaluating the symptoms of concussion and making a decision regarding the return-to-sport participation.
精神疲劳是运动相关性脑震荡的一种尚未被充分认识的症状，理想情况下需要通过多种方式进行评估。本研究旨在检查 10 名神经正常、活跃的运动员在接受典型脑震荡测试时的精神疲劳影响。我们的最终目的是解决这样一个问题，即轻度创伤性脑损伤（mTBI）引起的疲劳效应是否可能与测试引起的疲劳效应混淆。
最初从宾夕法尼亚州立大学招募了 14 名活跃的运动员和神经正常的志愿者。在整个测试过程中测量了自我报告的疲劳、神经心理学表现和脑电图（EEG）活动。在神经心理学（NP）测试过程中，在频域（例如，θ、α 和β频段的相对功率）检查 EEG 测量值。
测试过程中预测的疲劳效应包括：（a）自我报告的疲劳增加；（b）Stroop 干扰测试中的错误增加；（c）在 Stroop 干扰测试中，额中和顶区的θ活动相对功率显著增加；（d）与测试开始相比，在 Stroop 干扰任务中，α 激活从枕部迁移到前部（左顶叶和中央前区）。
结果支持与主观疲劳和认知表现相关的预测，并为与 NP 测试过程中 EEG 激活模式相关的预测提供了部分支持。
神经完整且活跃的大学生在接受典型的运动性脑震荡评估后，会出现与疲劳相关的影响，包括主观疲劳感增加、认知任务表现准确性下降以及 EEG 活动的相关调节。在评估脑震荡症状并决定是否恢复运动参与时，临床医生应考虑这一发现。
