Physical Exhaustion Induced Variations in Event-Related Potentials and Cognitive Task Performance in Young Adults

Abstract

Background/Aims: Physical exhaustion is not always peripheral, and it is the brain that causes the sensation of fatigue either due to decrease of metabolic resources or due to central activation process that regulates attention and performance. This study was undertaken to observe the variations in event-related potentials (ERPs) and cognitive performance after an exhausting physical exercise. Methods: A total of 60 healthy young adult subjects were included in the study. The study was conducted in 2 phases with at least a week gap between the phases. The participants answered a Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI-20) questionnaire before and after trials in each phase to measure the induced physical exhaustion. In phase I (control trial), the ERP data were processed using P300, Standard auditory “oddball paradigm,” on computerized evoked potential recorder (RMS EMG MK-2) using 10/20 system to know the engagement of attention after which participants were given to perform cognitive tasks such as “Stroop Test, Trial Making Test and Mini Mental State Examination.” In Phase II (exercise trial), the participants were instructed to cycle as hard as they could, till they could not continue anymore, which was followed by recording of P300-evoked potentials and performance of cognitive tasks as in Phase I. Paired t test was used to compare between any dependent variables. Results: Fatigue-related subjective measures (MFI-20) showed that both mental and physical exhaustion were significantly greater in the exercise-involved cognitive trial than in the control trial. Lower P300 latencies reflect faster reaction time; however, their response accuracies were poorer resulting in poorer cognitive performances. Participants subjected to control trial performed better in terms of higher percentage accuracy but with slow reaction time. Conclusion: The participants experienced more fatigue physically and mentally during the exercise that involved cognitive tasks. An apparent decrease in attention based on decreased percentage accuracy of response was evident, implying that fatigue, performance, and attention are interdependent.

Effects of a Bout of Intense Exercise on Some Executive Functions

“…Executive functions include planning, problem solving, flexibility, inhibition, multitasking, and working memory [18]. A negative effect of high blood lactate levels induced by an exhaustive exercise or with an intravenous infusion of a lactate solution has been found for attentional processes [3,5,6,8,10,19]. Regarding the working memory, a negative effect of exhaustive exercise on both non-spatial working memory and motor working memory was found [9].…”

“…The effects of acute physical exercise on the cognitive performances of an adult individual are still under discussion [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]. The existing literature tends to highlight a positive relationship if the exercise is of sub-maximal intensity, while the effects seem to be negative for exhaustive exercises [19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26].…”

Strategic Self-Talk Assists Basketball Free Throw Performance Under Conditions of Physical Exertion

“…Research on the impact of physical exertion on cognitive processes has provided inconsistent findings. Evidence have shown that moderate intensity exercise may have a positive effect on cognitive task performance (e.g., Kumar et al, 2012); however, physical exhaustion has been linked to reduced response accuracies in cognitive tasks (Itagi et al, 2018). Overall, the relationship between exercise and cognitive performance has been characterized as complex (Lambourne and Tomporowski, 2010) and may differ as a function of timing (during or following exercise), exercise modality (e.g., cycling vs. running) and intensity (moderate vs. vigorous).…”

Effects of Acute-Partial Sleep Deprivation on High-Intensity Exercise Performance and Cardiac Autonomic Activity in Healthy Adolescents

“…We recorded the Bruce protocol level and total exercise time at the end of the exercise immediately. Presence of any three of the following four conditions was a criterion for the termination of exhaustive exercise [45,46]. (1) Behavior: difficulty in breathing with profuse sweating; (2) blood pressure changes: systolic blood pressure of ≥150 mm Hg and diastolic blood pressure of ≥75 mm Hg; (3) heart rate: a maximum heart rate of ≥180 bpm; (4) RPE level: reaching an RPE level of 18.…”