The influence of the perceived requirements of the next match and motivation on the mental fatigue of soccer players.

The high cognitive and/or emotional demands of competition can lead to a state of mental fatigue which has shown to be detrimental to soccer performance. However, there is a need to further understand the true mental demands of soccer players. The aim of the present study was to analyze the influence of motivation and the perceived requirements of the next match on mental fatigue perceived by soccer players over the passing of a season. The combined effect of both variables on the perception of mental fatigue, as well as the influence of the time of the season on perceived mental fatigue, were also analyzed. Twenty-six semi-professional Spanish male players (M = 26.31 ± 5.18 years) participated in the present study, conducted during the 2020-2021 season. Perceived mental fatigue and motivation were measured at each training session. The perceived requirements of the next match were also measured in each of the competitive weeks. Linear mixed models were run with R Studio to examine the influence of motivation and the perceived difficulty of the next match on perceived mental fatigue, the combined effect of both variables on perceived mental fatigue, and the influence of the passing of the season on perceived mental fatigue. The results showed a negative and significant influence of motivation on perceived mental fatigue (p < 0.001) and a positive and significant influence of the perceived requirements of the next match on perceived mental fatigue (p < 0.001). Regarding the combined effect, there was a positive and significant effect (p < 0.01) of the perceived difficulty of the next match on the relation between motivation and perceived mental fatigue. A negative influence of season passage on perceived mental fatigue levels was found (p < 0.001). We recommended coaches to consider using the most motivating training tasks when higher next-match requirements are perceived and to be careful with avoidance strategies for mental fatigue, especially at the beginning of the season.

Effect of ageing on attended visual stimuli in the presence of cognitive mental load.

PURPOSE: This study was designed to compare the effects of mental load, caused by concurrent auditory tasks, on attended and non-attended visual stimuli in older and younger adults. METHODS: Participants performed a visual orientation discrimination task involving two spatially separated Gabor patches of 4 cycles/degree and 55% contrast. Participants received either a valid-cue, invalid-cue or a neutral-cue for the patch whose orientation they were required to determine. An auditory n-back task was performed simultaneously to impose mental load. Repeated-measures ANOVA was used for investigation of main effects and interactions of ageing, mental load and attention condition on orientation discrimination. RESULTS: A total of 27 younger (mean age ± SD, 22.6 ± 1.3 years) and 23 older adults (54.7 ± 4.3 years) participated in the study. There was a significant effect of age (p = 0.01) and mental load (p < 0.001) on the proportion of correct orientation discrimination responses. Attentional condition significantly affected the proportion of correct responses (p = 0.02), but there was no significant interaction between attention, mental load and age group (p = 0.85). There was no overall difference in the proportion of no responses (the proportion of trials in which the participants failed to respond) between the two age groups (p = 0.53) nor on the overall effect of attention on the proportion of no responses (p = 0.25). There was, however, a significant effect of mental load on the proportion of no responses (p = 0.002). CONCLUSION: Although mental load reduced performance equally for both age groups and for all attentional conditions, older adults had poorer overall performance. Therefore, a given mental load is more likely to drive older observers to unacceptable levels of task performance.

The Influence of the Playing Surface on Workload Response in Spanish Professional Male Soccer Players.

This study aimed to quantify the influence of the playing surface on workload-related variables (i.e., external load, Rate of perceived exertion (RPE), and mental load) in training sessions with a Spanish professional soccer team. Twenty professional male players from the same soccer team were involved. A total of thirty training sessions related to the preseason period were included. All the players completed training sessions on three playing surfaces: natural turf of poor quality, natural turf of high quality, and third-generation artificial turf. Monitoring during sessions involved assessing internal load (i.e., RPE and mental load) via self-reported questionnaires, and external load using Global Positioning System devices. Linear mixed models showed that RPE was significantly higher on natural turf of high quality than on natural turf of poor quality (p < 0.001). Total distance, relative total distance, the number of accelerations, decelerations, and high metabolic load distance were significantly lower on third-generation artificial turf compared to natural turf of poor quality (p < 0.001) and high quality (p < 0.001). In addition, high-speed running, sprint running distances, and the number of sprints reached higher values on third-generation artificial turf compared to the other two playing surfaces. These findings highlight the need for coaches to consider the type of training surface in soccer to optimize training load planning and prevent injuries.

Evaluation of mental load using EEG and eye movement characteristics.

Mental load is a major cause of human-induced accidents. In this study, an explosive impact sensitivity experiment was used to induce mental load. A combination of subjective questionnaires and objective prospective time-distance tests were used to judge whether subjects experienced mental load. Four indicators, namely, ß, γ, mean pupil diameter, and fixation time were selected by statistical analysis and PCA for the construction of a mental load assessment model. The study found that the occipital lobe was the most sensitive to mental load, especially ß and γ bands. Lastly, it was found that subjects showed different degrees of mental load for the same mental load induction task. The results of the study are applicable to the evaluation and monitoring of the mental characteristics of workers and provide a scientific basis for adjusting the mental load of workers over time to reduce the rate of accidents and enhance production efficiency.

Mental load is the main cause of human-induced accidents. This study used an explosive impact sensitivity experiment to induce mental load in subjects. We found that the mean pupil diameter and fixation time, as well as the beta and gamma bands in the occipital lobe were most sensitive to mental load.

Mental fatigue changes from regular season to play-offs in semiprofessional soccer: A comparison by training days.

The main purpose was to compare by each training the mental load and fatigue reported by semiprofessional soccer players comparing between regular season phase and the play-offs. Fifty-three players (Mage  = 24.59 years) for two teams participated during the 2020/21 season. Mental load was measured with a Likert questionnaire. Mental fatigue was quantified with a Visual Analogue Scale. Four trainings were recorded each week (Monday = MD+1, Wednesday = MD-4, Thursday = MD-3 and Saturday = MD-1), with a competitive match on Sunday across 10 weeks (five dates of regular season - five dates of play-offs). A Linear Mixed Model was performed with R-studio, using the training days and the competitive phase as independent variables. The influence of time played as co-variable was also checked. Results showed MD+1 as the more mentally fatiguing day in both phases, although MD-4 were the training with higher mental load reported (p = 0.001). Comparing phases, mental fatigue was significantly higher during the play-offs (p = 0.037). With regard time played, players that did not usually play showed a decrease in mental load during the play-offs. Then, we recommend coaches to use recovery strategies for mental fatigue, avoid mentally fatiguing tasks close to competition and considerer the time played as a factor which may contribute to individual differences in player mental fatigue.

Identification of Language-Induced Mental Load from Eye Behaviors in Virtual Reality.

Experiences of virtual reality (VR) can easily break if the method of evaluating subjective user states is intrusive. Behavioral measures are increasingly used to avoid this problem. One such measure is eye tracking, which recently became more standard in VR and is often used for content-dependent analyses. This research is an endeavor to utilize content-independent eye metrics, such as pupil size and blinks, for identifying mental load in VR users. We generated mental load independently from visuals through auditory stimuli. We also defined and measured a new eye metric, focus offset, which seeks to measure the phenomenon of "staring into the distance" without focusing on a specific surface. In the experiment, VR-experienced participants listened to two native and two foreign language stimuli inside a virtual phone booth. The results show that with increasing mental load, relative pupil size on average increased 0.512 SDs (0.118 mm), with 57% reduced variance. To a lesser extent, mental load led to fewer fixations, less voluntary gazing at distracting content, and a larger focus offset as if looking through surfaces (about 0.343 SDs, 5.10 cm). These results are in agreement with previous studies. Overall, we encourage further research on content-independent eye metrics, and we hope that hardware and algorithms will be developed in the future to further increase tracking stability.

[Effects of manipulator operation task and troubleshooting task on blood pressure indexes of oceanauts].

Objective: To explore the characteristics and rules of blood pressure changes in oceanauts during simulated operation of manipulator and troubleshooting tasks with different difficulty. Methods: In July 2020, 8 deep-sea manned submersible oceanauts, 6 males and 2 females, were selected as objects. In the 1∶1 model of Jiaolong deep-sea manned submersible, the oceanauts performed manipulator operation tasks and troubleshooting tasks with different difficulties, measured the continuous blood pressure of the oceanauts, filled in the NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX scale) after the completion of a single mission, and the changes of systolic pressure (SBP), diastolic pressure (DBP), mean arterial pressure (MAP) and mental workload were analyzed. Results: In a single task, the SBP, DBP and MAP of the oceanauts increased first and then decreased. The blood pressure values at the third minute were significantly lower than those at the first minute (P<0.01), and those at the fifth minute were significantly higher than those at the third minute (P<0.01). When performing the same task, compared with the quiet state, SBP, DBP and MAP increased when the oceanauts performed low difficulty, high difficulty, high difficulty+2-back manipulator operation task and troubleshooting task (P<0.05). When the task difficulty was the same, the SBP and MAP of oceanauts performing manipulator operation tasks were higher than those of oceanauts performing troubleshooting tasks (P<0.05). Compared with low difficulty tasks, the scores of NASA-TLX scale for oceanauts performing high difficulty manipulator operationtasks were significantly higher (P<0.05). Compared with the low difficulty task and high difficulty task, the scale score of the high difficulty+2-back troubleshooting task was significantly higher (P<0.05). When the task difficulty was the same, the scale scores of low difficulty and high difficulty manipulator operation tasks were significantly higher than those of troubleshooting tasks (P<0.05). SBP, DBP, MAP of No. 1, No. 3, No. 4, No. 5, and No. 7 oceanauts (all of whom had 6 years of diving) were positively correlated with NASA-TLX scale scores (r>0.8, P<0.05) . Conclusion: In the process of manned deep-sea diving, when the oceanauts perform manipulator operation tasks and troubleshooting tasks, with the increase of task difficulty, the mental load of oceanauts increases, and the blood pressure index increases significantly in a short time. At the same time, improving the proficiency of operation can reduce the variation range of blood pressure indexes. Blood pressure can be used as an effective reference to evaluate the difficulty of operation and guide scientific training.

The effect of mental load on psychophysical and visual evoked potential visual acuity.

PURPOSE: Under real-world conditions, tasks dependent on visual acuity may need to be performed in the presence of a mental load arising from concurrent, non-visual tasks. Therefore, measuring visual acuity concurrently with mentally demanding tasks may reflect a patient's vision more accurately. This study was designed to evaluate the impact of task-induced mental load on high contrast visual acuity, as measured using a letter chart and estimated via sweep visual evoked potentials (sweep VEP). METHODS: Visual acuity was determined using the Freiburg Vision Test, and also using sweep VEP tested stepwise, from coarse to fine, over 13 spatial frequencies, in 31 healthy participants (aged 22.4 ± 3.6 years). Recordings were repeated while participants concurrently performed an auditory 2-back task. Mental load of the n-back task was confirmed through subjective ratings. RESULTS: Visual acuity determined with the Freiburg Vision Test worsened from -0.02 ± 0.12 to 0.04 ± 0.15 logMAR under mental load (p = 0.03). Visual acuities estimated by sweep VEPs worsened from 0.38 ± 0.1 to 0.47 ± 0.1 logMAR (p < 0.001). While the slope of the VEP amplitude versus spatial frequency function steepened significantly with mental load (p = 0.01), VEP noise levels were not significantly affected (p = 0.07). CONCLUSION: Visual acuity reduces significantly with a concurrent task that produces mental load. At least part of this reduction appears to be related to alterations in responses within the visual cortex, rather than being purely attributable to higher-level distraction effects.

["The association proposes animations and moments of distraction to the hospitalized children"]. / « L'association propose des moments de distraction aux enfants hospitalisés ¼.

The association Les Blouses roses intervenes in many hospitals in France, especially at the bedside of hospitalized children. It tries to bring them various animations, fantasy and gaiety in the dark universe of the disease. This is not always an easy task, but it is supported by the will to accompany the young patient and his family against all odds. Chantal Leroy, president of the Les Blouses roses committee in Grenoble (38) for two years, explains how it works.

A Comparison of Mental Workload in Individuals with Transtibial and Transfemoral Lower Limb Loss during Dual-Task Walking under Varying Demand.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to evaluate the influence of lower limb loss (LL) on mental workload by assessing neurocognitive measures in individuals with unilateral transtibial (TT) versus those with transfemoral (TF) LL while dual-task walking under varying cognitive demand. METHODS: Electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded as participants performed a task of varying cognitive demand while being seated or walking (i.e., varying physical demand). RESULTS: The findings revealed both groups of participants (TT LL vs. TF LL) exhibited a similar EEG theta synchrony response as either the cognitive or the physical demand increased. Also, while individuals with TT LL maintained similar performance on the cognitive task during seated and walking conditions, those with TF LL exhibited performance decrements (slower response times) on the cognitive task during the walking in comparison to the seated conditions. Furthermore, those with TF LL neither exhibited regional differences in EEG low-alpha power while walking, nor EEG high-alpha desynchrony as a function of cognitive task difficulty while walking. This lack of alpha modulation coincided with no elevation of theta/alpha ratio power as a function of cognitive task difficulty in the TF LL group. CONCLUSIONS: This work suggests that both groups share some common but also different neurocognitive features during dual-task walking. Although all participants were able to recruit neural mechanisms critical for the maintenance of cognitive-motor performance under elevated cognitive or physical demands, the observed differences indicate that walking with a prosthesis, while concurrently performing a cognitive task, imposes additional cognitive demand in individuals with more proximal levels of amputation.

The mediational effect of coherence on the relationship between mental load and job burnout among oncology nurses.

AIMS: The purpose of this study was to determine the mediational effect of coherence on the relationship between mental load and job burnout among oncology nurses. BACKGROUND: Working stress and strain cause high mental load and can lead to job burnout among oncology nurses. Sense of coherence protects against the negative consequences of occupational mental load and may prevent professional burnout. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was carried out with 165 oncology nurses from chemotherapy departments. The data were collected from April to September 2013 using the Antonovsky Sense of Coherence Scale, Meister questionnaire, and Maslach Burnout Inventory. RESULTS: Manageability mediated the relations between Mental Load and both Emotional Exhaustion and Depersonalization. Meaningfulness exerted significant mediational effect on the relationship between Mental Load and Depersonalization. Manageability and Meaningfulness attenuate the unfavourable effect of Monotony and Unspecific load on motional Exhaustion and Depersonalization. CONCLUSIONS: Sense of coherence, especially Manageability and Meaningfulness, seems to be an important resource for oncology nurses, buffering the negative impact of mental load on well-being of nurses. Strengthening the sense of coherence can be helpful in preventing or dealing with professional burnout.

Alternations between physical and cognitive tasks in repetitive work - effect of cognitive task difficulty on fatigue development in women.

In a context of job rotation, this study determined the extent to which the difficulty of a cognitive task (CT) interspersed between bouts of repetitive, low-intensity work (pipetting) influences recovery from fatigue. Fifteen participants performed three experimental sessions, each comprising 10 repeats of a 7 min + 3 min combination of pipetting and CT. The CT was easy, moderate or hard. Surface electromyography (EMG amplitude of the forearm extensor and trapezius muscles) and self-reports was used to assess fatigability. Perceived fatigue and trapezius EMG amplitude increased during sessions. CT difficulty influenced fatigue development only little, besides forearm extensor EMG increasing more in CT3 than in CT1 and CT2. During CT bouts, fatigability recovered, and to a similar extent irrespective of CT. Thus, CT difficulty influenced recovery of perceived as well as performance fatigability to a minor extent, and may not be a critical issue in job rotation comprising alternating physical and cognitive tasks. Practitioner summary: Alternations between physical and cognitive tasks may be an attractive option for job rotation. In this study on women, we show that the difficulty of the cognitive task influences recovery from fatigue only little and we conclude that cognitive difficulty, within reasonable limits, may be a minor issue in job rotation.

Use of Biotechnological Devices in the Quantification of Psychophysiological Workload of Professional Chess Players.

Psychophysiological requirements of chess players are poorly understood, and periodization of training is often made without any empirical basis. For this reason, the aim of the present study was to investigate the psychophysiological response and quantify the player internal load during, and after playing a chess game. The participant was an elite 33 year-old male chess player ranked among the 300 best chess players in the world. Thus, cortical arousal by critical flicker fusion threshold, electroencephalogram by the theta Fz/alpha Pz ratio and autonomic modulation by heart rate variability were analyzed. Data revealed that cortical arousal by critical flicker fusion threshold and theta Fz/alpha Pz ratio increased and heart rate variability decreased during chess game. All these changes indicated that internal load increased during the chess game. In addition, pre-activation was detected in pre-game measure, suggesting that the prefrontal cortex might be preparatory activated. For these reasons, electroencephalogram, critical flicker fusion threshold and heart rate variability analysis may be highly applicable tools to control and monitor workload in chess player.

Phenotypic Features of Central Sensitization.

PURPOSE: The current manuscript reviews approaches for phenotyping central sensitization (CS). METHODS: The manuscript covers the concept of diagnostic phenotyping, use of endophenotypes, biomarkers, and symptom clusters. Specifically, the components of CS that include general sensory sensitivity (assessed by quantitative sensory testing) and a symptom cluster denoting sleep difficulties, pain, affect, cognitive difficulties, and low energy (S.P.A.C.E.). RESULTS: Each of the assessment domains are described with reference to CS and their presence in chronic overlapping pain conditions (COPCs) - conditions likely influenced by CS. CONCLUSIONS: COPCs likely represent clinical diagnostic phenotypes of CS. Components of CS can also be assessed using QST or self-report instruments designed to assess single elements of CS or more general composite indices.

The Role of Visual Noise in Influencing Mental Load and Fatigue in a Steady-State Motion Visual Evoked Potential-Based Brain-Computer Interface.

As a spatial selective attention-based brain-computer interface (BCI) paradigm, steady-state visual evoked potential (SSVEP) BCI has the advantages of high information transfer rate, high tolerance to artifacts, and robust performance across users. However, its benefits come at the cost of mental load and fatigue occurring in the concentration on the visual stimuli. Noise, as a ubiquitous random perturbation with the power of randomness, may be exploited by the human visual system to enhance higher-level brain functions. In this study, a novel steady-state motion visual evoked potential (SSMVEP, i.e., one kind of SSVEP)-based BCI paradigm with spatiotemporal visual noise was used to investigate the influence of noise on the compensation of mental load and fatigue deterioration during prolonged attention tasks. Changes in α, θ, θ + α powers, θ/α ratio, and electroencephalography (EEG) properties of amplitude, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and online accuracy, were used to evaluate mental load and fatigue. We showed that presenting a moderate visual noise to participants could reliably alleviate the mental load and fatigue during online operation of visual BCI that places demands on the attentional processes. This demonstrated that noise could provide a superior solution to the implementation of visual attention controlling-based BCI applications.

Sense of Coherence vs. Mental Load in Nurses Working at a Chemotherapy Ward.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between the sense of coherence and the level of mental load among nurses working at a chemotherapy ward. METHODS: The study, conducted in 2013, included 164 nurses working at inpatient chemotherapy wards in Krakow, Poznan, Kielce, and Gliwice (Poland). The mean age of the study participants was 43.07±7.99 years. The study was based on a diagnostic survey with Antonovsky's Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC-29) and Meister questionnaire. RESULTS: The levels of Mental Load, Monotony and Unspecific Load, correlated inversely with the levels of Coherence, Manageability, Meaningfulness, and Comprehensibility. Longer work experience was associated with lower levels of Coherence, Manageability and Comprehensibility and higher levels of Mental Load, Overload and Monotony. Age of nurses correlated inversely with the Manageability level. Heavy mental and physical workload turned out to be the main factor causing dissatisfaction of the study participants. CONCLUSIONS: Longer work experience and lower levels of Coherence are associated with higher risk for mental overload.

The role of respiratory measures to assess mental load in pilot selection.

While cardiovascular measures have a long tradition of being used to determine operator load, responsiveness of the respiratory system to mental load has rarely been investigated. In this study, we assessed basic and variability measures of respiration rate (RR), partial pressure of end-tidal carbon dioxide (petCO2) as well as performance measures in 63 male pilot candidates during completion of a complex cognitive task and subsequent recovery. Mental load was associated with an increase in RR and a decrease in respiratory variability. A significant decrease was also found for petCO2. RR and respiratory variability showed partial and complete effects of recovery, respectively, whereas petCO2 did not return to baseline level. Overall, a good performance was related to a stronger reactivity in RR. Our findings suggest that respiratory parameters would be a useful supplement to common measures for the assessment of mental load in pilot selection. Practitioner Summary: Respiratory measures are a promising yet poorly investigated approach to monitor operator load. For pilot selection, we assessed respiration in response to multitasking in 63 candidates. Task-related changes as well as covariation with performance strongly support the consideration of respiratory parameters when evaluating reactivity to mental load.

Characterizing the Visual Cortex Function in Cognitive Task-Induced Mental Load: An Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study.

Introduction: The mental load caused by simultaneous multitasking can affect visual information processing and reduce its ability. This study investigated the effect of mental load caused by cognitive tasks simultaneously with visual task on the number of active voxels in the visual cortex. Methods: This study recruited 22 individuals with a mean age of 24.72 ± 5.47 years. 3-Tesla functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to examine the functions of the visual cortex and amygdala region during three different task conditions: visual task alone, visual task with an auditory n-back task, and visual task with an arithmetic task. The visual stimuli consisted of Gabor patches with a contrast of 55% at spatial frequencies of 0.25, 4, and 9 cycles per degree (cpd). These were presented in three trials of eight blocks with a stimulation time of 12 sec and a rest time of 14 sec. Results: Activated brain voxels in the primary, secondary, and associated visual cortex areas were reduced in response to the mental load imposed by the n-back and arithmetic tasks. This reduction was greater for a spatial frequency of 0.25 cpd in the n-back task condition and spatial frequency of 9 cpd in the arithmetic task condition. In addition, the amygdala was stimulated in 2-back task and arithmetic task conditions. Conclusions: This study revealed a decline in the number of activated voxels of the visual cortex due to the mental load caused by simultaneous cognitive tasks, confirming the findings of previous psychophysical studies.

Tracking drivers' minds: Continuous evaluation of mental load and cognitive processing in a realistic driving simulator scenario by means of the EEG.

Driving safety strongly depends on the driver's mental states and attention to the driving situation. Previous studies demonstrate a clear relationship between EEG measures and mental states, such as alertness and drowsiness, but often only map their mental state for a longer period of time. In this driving simulation study, we exploit the high temporal resolution of the EEG to capture fine-grained modulations in cognitive processes occurring before and after eye activity in the form of saccades, fixations, and eye blinks. A total of 15 subjects drove through an approximately 50-km course consisting of highway, country road, and urban passages. Based on the ratio of brain oscillatory alpha and theta activity, the total distance was classified into 10-m-long sections with low, medium, and high task loads. Blink-evoked and fixation-evoked event-related potentials, spectral perturbations, and lateralizations were analyzed as neuro-cognitive correlates of cognition and attention. Depending on EEG-based estimation of task load, these measures showed distinct patterns associated with driving behavior parameters such as speed and steering acceleration and represent a temporally highly resolved image of specific cognitive processes during driving. In future applications, combinations of these EEG measures could form the basis for driver warning systems which increase overall driving safety by considering rapid fluctuations in driver's attention and mental states.

Counting the Minutes: Perceived Diabetes Mental Load and its Associations With Technology Use and Mental Disorders.

Little is known about mental load in people with diabetes and associations with demographic, clinical, and treatment characteristics, such as the use of diabetes technologies. To explore perceived mental load, 503 adults with diabetes answered the one-item survey "How much time (in minutes) would you spontaneously estimate that you spend each day thinking about your diabetes?" Mental load estimations varied widely within the sample and between subgroups. Perceived mental load was higher in type 1 diabetes than in type 2 diabetes, higher in women than in men and increased with treatment intensity (ie, insulin therapy, technology use) and the number of mental disorders. Further research may explore associations with diabetes-related distress and determine whether (perceived) mental load has relevance in technology use.