| Effects of Mental Fatigue on Reaction Time in Athletes |
| Paper ID : 1511-SSRC-13TH |
| Authors |
|
Gian Mario Migliaccio *1, Tania Orgiana1, Andrea Baldini2, Donato Mottura3 1Sport Science Academy, Cagliari, Italy 2Sport Science Academy, Roma, Italy 3Sport Science Academy, San Donaci (BR), Italy |
| Abstract |
| Aim Mental fatigue (MF) has been defined as a psychobiological state caused by prolonged periods of demanding cognitive activity (Boksem & Tops, 2008). However, the impact of mental fatigue in motor task as the reaction time (RT) to visual stimuli remains largely unknown in sports. Materials and methods Therefore, 45 subjects (age 29.18±3.25 y) induced by a routine of 15 minutes of Stroop-Test (PsyTool), with 600 tasks and 5 different colours. Heart rate (HR) was recorded with Cardio-Polar in pre Stroop-Test, during Stroop-Test (every 5’), post Stroop-Test and 1’, 3’ and 5’ after Stroop-Test. While RT were evaluated in pre/post Stroop-Test with a Cognitive Fun software. Univariate ANOVA and Bonferroni Post-hoc was used to compare HR in-between conditions and t-test to compare the RTPR (Pre Stroop-Test) vs. RTPO (Post Stroop-Test). The significance level was fixed at priori as α <0.05. Results Analysis of variance (ANOVA) for HR showed a Fischer value of 6.051 and η2= 0.101 with p<0.001; while the post-hoc showed a significant difference (p<0.05) during the Stroop-Test (HR were 36.58±5.40, 40.31±6.36 and 42.87±7.36 %HRMAX at the 1st 2nd 3rd point, respectively) compared to the other conditions. RTPR and RTPO was 310.29±38.34 and 334.12±38.79 ms (p= 0.0029), respectively. Conclusion The present findings suggest that the parasympathetic branch of the autonomous nervous system functioning as a relaxation system tends to be activated under increasing mental fatigue with a decreased performance (RT). Therefore, the athletes could use MF induced during the training to improve the time delay related to the motor task. |
| Keywords |
| mental fatigue, reaction time, sports, athlete |
| Status: Abstract Accepted (Poster Presentation) |
