Mindfulness-Based Interventions for the Recovery of Mental Fatigue: A Systematic Review.

Background: There is evidence that mindfulness-based interventions (MBI) can help one to recover from mental fatigue (MF). Although the strength model of self-control explains the processes underlying MF and the model of mindfulness and de-automatization explains how mindfulness training promotes adaptive self-regulation leading to the recovery of MF, a systematic overview detailing the effects of MBI on the recovery of MF is still lacking. Thus, this systematic review aims to discuss the influences of MBI on the recovery of MF. Methods: We used five databases, namely, PubMed, Web of Science, EBSCOhost, Scopus, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) for articles published up to 24 September 2021, using a combination of keywords related to MBI and MF. Results: Eight articles fulfilled all the eligibility criteria and were included in this review. The MBI directly attenuated MF and positively affected the recovery of psychology (attention, aggression and mind-wandering) and sports performance (handgrip, plank exercise and basketball free throw) under MF. However, the interaction did not reach statistical significance for the plank exercise. Therefore, the experience and duration of mindfulness are necessary factors for the success of MBI. Conclusions: mindfulness appears to be most related to a reduction in MF. Future research should focus on improving the methodological rigor of MBI to confirm these results and on identifying facets of mindfulness that are most effective for attenuating MF.

Effect of Mindfulness Training on Fatigue and Recovery in Elite Volleyball Athletes: A Randomized Controlled Follow-Up Study.

Volleyball is a team sport with high physical and perceptual-cognitive demand, hence, increasing the perception of physical and mental fatigue during a competition. To alleviate fatigue (physical and mental), mindfulness and music have been proposed. The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of mindfulness-based mental versus music training on mental fatigue, physical fatigue, and recovery in elite competitive female volleyball athletes using a randomized two-controlled study with follow-up. Participants were 30 elite female Brazilian volleyball athletes. Athletes were randomly assigned to the following groups: 1) mindfulness-based mental training group (MBMT); 2) music-based training group (MBT); or 3) control group (CG). Three variables were evaluated as follows: 1) recovery based on total quality recovery; 2) mental fatigue visual analog scale; and 3) physical fatigue visual analog scale. Regarding recovery, there was no difference between the MBMT, MBT, and CG groups (p > 0.05). A difference in mental fatigue was noted between MBT and CG at follow-up [F(2,26) = 5.71, p = 0.009; large]. Regarding physical fatigue, there was no difference between the MBMT, MBT, and CG groups (p > 0.05). The mindfulness intervention effectively attenuated the mental fatigue caused by competition in volleyball athletes. These results will assist coaches and staff in providing fatigue management and reinforce the applicability of mental training in sports.

Comparing Relaxation Versus Mastery Microbreak Activity: A Within-Task Recovery Perspective.

Recovery from work is generally thought to occur outside of the workplace. However, employees may also have the opportunity to recover within the work day via microbreaks during demanding work tasks. Two major strategies for mitigating fatigue include psychological detachment (i.e., mentally disengaging) and replenishing motivational incentives via positive affect. This study examined whether 40-s "microbreaks" improve work recovery and to what extent different microbreak content (mastery vs. relaxation activities) boost performance. Using an experimental study, we randomly assigned individuals to receive a relaxation microbreak (n = 59), a mastery microbreak (n = 68), or no break (n = 72) in the middle of a monotonous work task and assessed work performance. Microbreaks improved task performance and within-task recovery, but only for psychological detachment (not positive affect). Mastery breaks also resulted in more psychological detachment than relaxation breaks, but this increased detachment did not explain performance differences between break types. These results build on existing recovery theories by further demonstrating within-task recovery and provide practical implications for organizations to consider the importance of microbreaks.

The effects on mental fatigue and the cognitive function of mechanical massage and binaural beats (brain massage) provided by massage chairs.

OBJECTIVE: To verify whether the mechanical massage using massage chairs and binaural beats (brain massage) affect the mental fatigue recovery and cognitive enhancements. METHODS: 25 healthy adults used massage chairs that could provide mechanical massage and binaural beats (brain massage) for 20 min. Mental fatigue and cognitive function were assessed before and after receiving brain massage using electroencephalogram (EEG) and 5 prolonged cognitive tests. RESULTS: When a person received a brain massage on the massage chair, the decrease in mental fatigue was statistically significant compared to taking a rest or receiving a mechanical massage only on the massage chair. In addition, sustained attention, verbal short-term and long-term memory and non-verbal long-term memory were statistically significantly increased after using brain massage. CONCLUSION: Brain massage (mechanical massage and binaural beats) are effective in reducing mental fatigue and improving the cognitive function.

Magnetic stimulation at acupoints relieves mental fatigue: An Event Related Potential (P300) study.

BACKGROUND: Mental fatigue caused by continuous cognitive tasks represents one of the most worrying modern health problems. Event Related Potential (ERP) P300 is thought to be associated with cognitive function. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed at characterizing the neural activity correlated with the attentional processes and exploring a novelty method which combine the magnetic stimulation and acupoint to relieve mental fatigue caused by continuous cognitive tasks. METHODS: P300 (P3a and P3b) were extracted at three points: when subjects felt relaxed, at the point of mental fatigue, and after the subjects were stimulated at acupoints. The amplitudes and latencies of P3a and P3b were analyzed statistically. RESULTS: Among the four features (P3a amplitude, P3a latency, P3b amplitude, and P3b latency), only P3b amplitude was found to have a significant difference between the resting state and the mental fatigue state. And P3b amplitude significantly increased after magnetic stimulation at the acupoints. CONCLUSIONS: Subjects experiencing mental fatigue demonstrated a significant decrease in P3b amplitude in the parietal region, suggesting attenuation of resource allocation for selective attention. P3b amplitude significantly increased after magnetic stimulation at acupoints indicating that this strategy can be used to improve selective attention and relieve mental fatigue.

Assessment and treatment of mental fatigue after a traumatic brain injury.

Mental fatigue is a frequently occurring symptom after mild, moderate or severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). Such mental fatigue may become a long-lasting problem, irrespective of severity and even after recovery from other neurological or psychiatric symptoms. Two characteristics of this mental fatigue are that patients easily become exhausted and there is generally a long recovery time. There is a need to increase knowledge and awareness of mental fatigue as it interferes considerably with work, studies, and social activities. Assessment is difficult and few treatment studies have been carried out. For the purposes of assessment, the development of the Mental Fatigue Scale is described here, and we also summarise the few treatment studies found for fatigue after TBI. Symptom alleviation is reported through Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), light therapy and for the psychostimulant methylphenidate and the dopamine stabiliser (-)-OSU6162. However, more knowledge of the origin of mental fatigue and its underlying mechanisms is needed for development of more efficient therapeutic methods. Prospective randomised trials focusing on long-term outcomes are warranted and should include both pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments.

Fatigue-recovering effect of a house designed with open space.

CONTEXT: Exposure to a natural environment has been reported to be associated with positive effects on mental well-being. However, no report has examined the effects of a house designed with an open space connected to nature on recovery from fatigue. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of such an open space on recovery from mental fatigue. DESIGN: Placebo-controlled, crossover design. SETTING: Participants were randomized into open (connected to nature) and closed (not connected to nature) conditions. PARTICIPANTS: Sixteen healthy female volunteers were enrolled. INTERVENTION: After a 30-minute fatigue-inducing mental task, participants moved to an open or closed recovery room for 30 minutes. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: As fatigue-evaluating mental tasks, participants performed advanced trail making tests for 20 minutes. They were asked to rate their levels of fatigue, relaxation, comfort, and healing on a visual analogue scale from 0 (minimum) to 100 (maximum) to evaluate their subjective mental. They also underwent accelerated plethysmography. RESULTS: After the recovery session, lower total error counts of a cognitive test, greater levels of subjective relaxation, comfort, and healing, and lower levels of waveform index-1 assessed via accelerated plethysmography were observed in participants exposed to the open condition compared with the closed condition. These results provide evidence that the use of a house designed with an open space connected to nature during the recovery session improved cognitive function and subjective mental states. Hence, open space was effective for helping recovery from mental fatigue.

Effects of mild-stream bathing on recovery from mental fatigue.

BACKGROUND: Bathing in hot water is very common in Japan; people bathe in order to clean their bodies and to recover from physical and mental fatigue. However, there have been few reports examining the effects of bathing on recovery from mental fatigue. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of mild-stream bathing on recovery from mental fatigue. MATERIAL/METHODS: During mild-stream bathing, a mild stream continuously passes from the sole to the calf, thigh, waist and back, thus providing a massage function. In a double-blinded, placebo-controlled, crossover experiment, 14 male healthy volunteers were randomized into normal bathing and mild-stream bathing experiments. After a fatigue-inducing mental task for 4 hours, subjects took a normal or mild-stream bath. RESULTS: Heart rate was higher, muscle stiffness in the waist was lower and plasma cortisol levels tended to be lower after mild-stream bathing when compared to normal bathing. In addition, after mild-stream bathing, mental task performance, as assessed by reaction times on an advanced trail making test, was better than that after normal bathing. CONCLUSIONS: The present results suggest that improved working memory processing, diminished waist muscle tone, and attenuated mental stress are induced by mild-stream bathing. Therefore, mild-stream bathing appears to be more effective for alleviating mental fatigue than normal bathing.

Therapy of circadian rhythm disorders in chronic fatigue syndrome: no symptomatic improvement with melatonin or phototherapy.

BACKGROUND: Patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) show evidence of circadian rhythm disturbances. We aimed to determine whether CFS symptoms were alleviated by melatonin and bright-light phototherapy, which have been shown to improve circadian rhythm disorders and fatigue in jet-lag and shift workers. DESIGN: Thirty patients with unexplained fatigue for > 6 months were initially assessed using placebo and then received melatonin (5 mg in the evening) and phototherapy (2500 Lux for 1 h in the morning), each for 12 weeks in random order separated by a washout period. Principal symptoms of CFS were measured by visual analogue scales, the Shortform (SF-36) Health Survey, Mental Fatigue Inventory and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. We also determined the circadian rhythm of body temperature, timing of the onset of melatonin secretion, and the relationship between these. RESULTS: Neither intervention showed any significant effect on any of the principal symptoms or on general measures of physical or mental health. Compared with placebo, neither body temperature rhythm nor onset of melatonin secretion was significantly altered by either treatment, except for a slight advance of temperature phase (0.8 h; P = 0.04) with phototherapy. CONCLUSION: Melatonin and bright-light phototherapy appear ineffective in CFS. Both treatments are being prescribed for CFS sufferers by medical and alternative practitioners. Their unregulated use should be prohibited unless, or until, clear benefits are convincingly demonstrated.

Effects of chicken extract on the recovery from fatigue caused by mental workload.

Folk wisdom suggests that chicken extract is useful for recovery from physical and mental fatigue. To explore this question, the physiological effect of Brand's Essence of Chicken (BEC), a popular chicken extract used as a traditional remedy, was assessed during recovering from mental stress. We quantitated the blood levels of stress-related substances, and examined the task performance and subjects' mood states during mental workloads. Subjects were 20, healthy male students who have never tasted BEC. They took two bottles of BEC or a placebo (70 ml/bottle) daily in the morning for 7 days. On the final experimental day, two mental workload tests were performed: (A) a mental arithmetic test (MAT; 1600 trials of two or three figure-addition or subtraction for 40 min). (B) a short-term memory test (SMT; 20 trials of memorizing 9 digit numbers). Blood was collected before and after each workload task. After the mental workload, the recovery of mean cortisol level of subjects who consumed BEC was significantly faster than that for those consuming the placebo. The task performance of subjects performing the MAT and SMT was also improved with BEC consumption compared with placebo. According to the profile of mood state questionnaire, subjects felt more active and less fatigued during the workload when they took BEC regularly. We conclude that the extract of chicken has the potential to metabolize stress-related substance in blood and to promote recovery from mental fatigue.

[Regulative music therapy and training as a means for enhancing adaptive potentials and for overcoming fatigue and stress]. / Regulirashtata muzikoterapiia i trening kato sredstvo za povishavane na adaptivnite vuzmozhnosti i za preodoliavane na umorata i stresa.

The method of regulative music therapy (RMT) by C. Schwabe is presented-its mechanisms, the caring out procedure, usability and application domains. RMT can help to cope with mental and physical overstrain, resulting in variety of disorders regarding sleep and cardiovascular system; stomach and muscle pains, irritability and lack of balance, anxiety. RMT is based on the learning of specific perception form-efficient observation on: one's own personality, body, functions, thoughts, emotions, and not reasoning. In this way the pathogenic attention narrowing is overwhelmed and the behavior changes which reflect on the general well-being and self-tolerance. The music in RMT has a starting function. RMT is used not only in the case of neurosis therapy, it is successfully applied in the preventive medicine as a training method to cope with over-tension and as means to prevent emotional alienation in every day life.

[A method of central electroanalgesia for correcting the functional status of pilots during intensive flights]. / Metod tsentral'noi elektroanal'gezii kak sredstvo korrektsii funktsional'nogo sostoianiia letnogo sostava v period intensivnykh poletov.

Optimal levels of the health status of pilots performing an intensive flight program can be maintained by rational work and rest schedules and correction methods. The effectiveness of central electroanalgesia as a correction method was determined. The course of treatment which consisted of 4-5 sessions, each 40-50 min long, produced a beneficial effect on the health status and work capacity of pilots as measured by direct and indirect methods.