Combined effects of sleep deprivation and strenuous exercise on cognitive performances during The North Face® Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc® (UTMB®)

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of combined sleep deprivation and strenuous exercise on cognitive and neurobehavioral performance among long-distance runners completing one of the most difficult ultramarathons in the world. Seventeen runners participated. Each had a wrist-worn actigraph throughout the race to record their sleep time. In addition, each individual's performance in 10-min response-time tests before and after the race was recorded and a questionnaire enabled participants to report any difficulties they experienced during the competition. During race completion times of 27 to 44 h, combined acute lack of sleep (12 ± 17 min of rest during the race) and strenuous exercise (168.0 km) had marked adverse effects on cognitive performances ranging from mere lengthening of response time to serious symptoms such as visual hallucinations. This study suggests that regardless of rest duration and time in race, cognitive performances of ultramarathoners are adversely affected.

Enacting Phenomenological Gestalts in Ultra-Trail Running: An Inductive Analysis of Trail Runners’ Courses of Experience

“…Furthermore, this difficult state has been described in previous studies that have underlined energy depletion, emotional disturbance, negative energy balance and worsening sleep deprivation throughout the race (Lahart et al, 2013). Moreover, impairments due to lack of sleep (i.e., psychomotor vigilance, increased reaction times, and inability to stay awake), which seem to be recurrent issues during ultra-trail running events (Hurdiel et al, 2015), can be the source of safety issues, mainly for runners who have been struggling for a while. Kruseman et al (2005) suggested a possible explanation for the lack of energy when they showed that most amateur runners did not meet the energy intake and nutritional needs during a mountain marathon.…”

“…While managing the race, runners should maintain physical integrity by delaying the onset of muscular pain and using the feeling of physical easiness and comfort as signals for controlling the pace and procedures (Rochat et al, 2017). Hurdiel et al (2015) suggested that runners should actively manage sleep with a predefined plan based on the race duration.…”

“…This ultra-endurance discipline is extremely challenging, and runners must deal with environmental and meteorological conditions, altitude changes, the topography of the terrain, the onset of pain and fatigue, muscular damage (e.g., Schmidt Easthope et al, 2010), exhaustion and effects due to sleep deprivation (e.g., Hurdiel et al, 2015; Poussel et al, 2015). Furthermore, Nicolas et al (2011) showed that runners’ perceptions of stress after a 24-h ultra-marathon alter their psychological recovery.…”

Comparison of vitality states of finishers and withdrawers in trail running: An enactive and phenomenological perspective

“…A current trend is the “third-person approach” to identify the determinants of performance. In this case, studies are based on the assumption that performance is dependent on two types of factors: (a) before-the-race factors, which include, for example, training habits [6], the impact of training characteristics on running-related injuries [7], and physical, mental and tactical preparation [4], and (b) during-the-race factors, which include sleep-deprivation effects [8] and neuromuscular damage [9]. Other determinants of performance have been examined by isolating specific characteristics, without distinguishing between these two types of timed factors; these include mood states [10], cognitive functioning [11], personality traits [12], emotions [13], sarcomere disruption [14], and alteration of jump height mechanics after a mountain footrace [15].…”

“…For example, sleep deprivation was reported to negatively impact runners’ cognitive performances (i.e., decreased psychomotor vigilance, increased reaction time lapses, inability to stay awake, and sometimes visual hallucinations) [8]. Moreover, long-distance effort was found to lead to emotional disturbances and negative energetic balances [13].…”