Abstract:Background: Mental fatigue is a psychobiological state caused by prolonged periods of demanding cognitive activity. Mental fatigue has recently been suggested to affect physical performance. Objective: To evaluate the literature on the impairment in physical performance due to mental fatigue and to create an overview of the potential factors underlying this effect. Data Sources: Two electronic databases, PubMed and Web of Science (until 28 April 2016) were searched. Eligibility criteria for selecting studies: Studies had to be designed to test whether mental fatigue influenced performance on a physical task or influenced physiological and/or perceptual responses during the physical task. Studies using short (<30 min) self-regulatory depletion tasks were excluded from the review. Results: Eleven articles were included, of which six were of strong and five of moderate quality. The general finding was a decline in endurance performance (decreased timeto-exhaustion and self-selected power output/velocity or increased completion-time) due to mental fatigue, associated with a higher than normal perceived exertion. Physiological variables traditionally associated with endurance performance (heart rate, blood lactate, oxygen uptake, cardiac output, VO2) were unaffected by mental fatigue. Maximal strength, power and anaerobic work were observed not to be affected by mental fatigue. Conclusion: Duration and intensity of the physical task appear to be important factors in the decrease in physical performance due to mental fatigue. The most important factor responsible for the negative impact of mental fatigue on endurance performance is a higher perceived exertion. Powered by Edit orial Manager® and ProduXion Manager® from Aries Syst em s Corporat ionA E Dear editor, we thank you for the revisions. We also revised the paper once more on grammar and vocabulary and subsequently adjusted some words, rephrased a couple of sentences and removed some redundant sentences (mainly in section 4.5 and 5). We hope you agree with these specific changes and want to emphasize that no changes were made to the content of the manuscript (in order to demonstrate this all deleted words and sentences are also indicated in the manuscript with tracked changes).1. Section 3.4 please number the subsections in this section 3.4. This was adjusted.3. Section 4.5, sentence 1This was adjusted. Compliance with Ethical Standards section S B SM This was adjusted. Conflicts of Interest section S B S MThis was adjusted.6. References list the References list no longer has the corrected formatting that was evident in the Revision 1 version of this list. Therefore, can you please reinstate the Revision 1 version, which incorporated the requested formatting changes from the submitted version. However, please also note that the revised version of the References list in Revision 1 had 77 references, whereas the version in Revision 2 has 82 references. Therefore, the format-corrected version in Revision 1 cannot simply be transplanted into Revision 3 it ...

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PurposeCycling desks as a means to reduce sedentary time in the office has gained interest as excessive sitting has been associated with several health risks. However, the question rises if people will still be as efficient in performing their desk-based office work when combining this with stationary cycling. Therefore, the effect of cycling at 30% Wmax on typing, cognitive performance and brain activity was investigated.MethodsAfter two familiarisation sessions, 23 participants performed a test battery [typing test, Rey auditory verbal learning test (RAVLT), Stroop test and Rosvold continuous performance test (RCPT)] with electroencephalography recording while cycling and sitting on a conventional chair.ResultsTyping performance, performance on the RAVLT and accuracy on the Stroop test and the RCPT did not differ between conditions. Reaction times on the Stroop test and the RCPT were shorter while cycling relative to sitting (p < 0.05). N200, P300, N450 and conflict SP latency and amplitude on the Stroop test and N200 and P300 on the RCPT did not differ between conditions.ConclusionsThis study showed that typing performance and short-term memory are not deteriorated when people cycle at 30% Wmax. Furthermore, cycling had a positive effect on response speed across tasks requiring variable amounts of attention and inhibition.

Fatigue is such a multifaceted construct it has sprouted specific research fields and experts in domains as different as exercise physiology, cognitive psychology, human factors and engineering, and medical practice. It lacks a consensus definition: it is an experimental concept, a symptom, a risk, a cause (e.g., of performance decrement) and a consequence (e.g., of sleep deprivation). This fragmentation of knowledge leads to slower dissemination of novel insights, and thus to a poorer research. Indeed, what may seem as a novel result in one field, may very well be old news in another, hence leading to this “innovation” being a scientific equivalent to the emperor’s new clothes. The current paper aims to describe the common denominator in the different areas of expertise where fatigue is investigated. Indeed, rather than focusing on the differences in semantics and conceptualization, we hope that identifying common concepts may be inductive of easier multidisciplinary research. Considering the vastness of fatigue research in all areas identified as relevant-cognitive science, exercise physiology, and medical practice, this analysis has not the ambition to be an exhaustive review in all domains. We have reviewed the fatigue concepts and research in these areas and report the ones that are used to describe the proposed common model to be further investigated. The most promising common feature to cognitive science, exercise physiology and clinical practice is the notion of “perceived effort.” This allows to account for interindividual differences, as well as for the situational variations in fatigue. It is applicable to both mental and physical constructs. It integrates motivational and emotional dimensions. It overcomes current polemics in various research fields, and it does not draw on any semantic ambiguity. We thus suggest a new model of fatigue and performance, whether this performance is mental or physical; and whether it is in a clinical range or relates to optimal functioning.