Jacquet Thomas, Poulin-Charronnat Bénédicte, Bard Patrick, Lepers Romuald
LEAD - CNRS UMR5022, Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté, Dijon, France.
INSERM UMR 1093 CAPS, Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté, Dijon, France.
Front Psychol. 2021 Jan 8;11:588253. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.588253. eCollection 2020.
The effects of mental fatigue on both cognitive and physical performance are well described in the literature, but the recovery aspects of mental fatigue have been less investigated. The present study aimed to fill this gap by examining the persistence of mental fatigue on behavior and electrophysiological mechanisms. Fifteen participants performed an arm-pointing task consisting of reaching a target as fast as possible, before carrying out a 32-min cognitively demanding task [Time Load Dual Back (TLDB) task], and immediately, 10 and 20 min after completion of the TLDB task. During the experiment, electroencephalography was continuously recorded. The significant increase in mental fatigue feeling after the TLDB task was followed by a decrease during the 20 min of recovery without returning to premeasurement values. Brain oscillations recorded at rest during the recovery period showed an increase in both theta and alpha power over time, suggesting a persistence of mental fatigue. Arm-pointing movement duration increased gradually over time during the recovery period, indicating that behavioral performance remained impaired 20 min after the end of the cognitively demanding task. To conclude, subjective measurements indicated a partial recovery of mental fatigue following a cognitively demanding task, whereas electrophysiological and behavioral markers suggested that the effects of mental fatigue persisted for at least 20 min. While the subjective evaluation of mental fatigue is a very practical way to attest the presence of mental fatigue, electrophysiological and behavioral measures seem more relevant to evaluate the time course of mental fatigue effects.
精神疲劳对认知和身体表现的影响在文献中已有充分描述，但精神疲劳的恢复方面研究较少。本研究旨在通过考察精神疲劳在行为和电生理机制上的持续性来填补这一空白。15名参与者在执行一项32分钟的高认知需求任务[时间负荷双任务（TLDB）任务]之前、任务完成后立即、10分钟和20分钟时，进行一项尽可能快速指向目标的手臂指向任务。实验过程中持续记录脑电图。TLDB任务后精神疲劳感显著增加，随后在20分钟的恢复过程中下降，但未恢复到测量前的值。恢复期间静息状态下记录的脑振荡显示，随着时间推移，θ波和α波功率均增加，表明精神疲劳持续存在。恢复期间，手臂指向运动持续时间随时间逐渐增加，表明在高认知需求任务结束20分钟后行为表现仍受损。总之，主观测量表明在高认知需求任务后精神疲劳有部分恢复，而电生理和行为指标表明精神疲劳的影响至少持续20分钟。虽然精神疲劳的主观评估是证明精神疲劳存在的一种非常实用的方法，但电生理和行为测量似乎更适合评估精神疲劳影响的时间进程。
