Clinical trial NCT05452460: Mindfulness Training, Mental Fatigue, Endurance Performance and Neurocognitive Functions
Official title: Effect of Mindfulness Training on Mental Fatigue-Related Impairments of Endurance Performance and Inhibitory Control in Athletes: An Event-Related Potential Study
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Mindfulness Training
Neurocognitive Function
Sports Performance
Mental Fatigue
Keywords: Mindfulness Training
Mental Fatigue
Inhibitory Control
Endurance Performance
ERP
Lead sponsor: National Taiwan Normal University
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2022-07-11
Enrollment: 53
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 25
Standard ages: ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: Mental fatigue has been suggested that would impair neurocognitive functions and sports performance. On the other hand, mindfulness training (MT) seems to as a promising approach to attenuate mental fatigue and counteract its detrimental effect on cognitive functions and sports performance. The purpose of the present study is to examine the effect of MT on behavioral and neuroelectric indices of inhibitory control, and endurance performance in mentally fatigued athletes.

Detailed description: Accumulating research indicates that mental fatigue induced by prolonged cognitive tasks would impair neurocognitive functions and sports performance. Additionally, recent studies demonstrate that inhibitory control and endurance performance are significantly susceptible to detrimental effects of mental fatigue. On the other hand, mindfulness training (MT) has been widely been used to enhance cognitive functions and sports performance in neurocognitive and sports research, which has been considered a promising approach for attenuating mental fatigue and counteracting the detrimental effect of mental fatigue. However, the effect of MT on inhibitory control, endurance performance, and underlying mechanisms in mentally fatigued athletes remain unclear.

Therefore, the purpose of the present study is to examine the effect of MT on behavioral and neuroelectric indices of inhibitory control, and endurance performance in mentally fatigued athletes.

Specifically, the targeted primary outcomes are neurocognitive functions (i.e., reaction time, accuracy and ERPs in Flanker task) and endurance performance (i.e., VO2max \& time to exhaustion); The secondary outcomes are changes in dispositional mindfulness, subjective (i.e., scores in visual analog scale)/objective (i.e., reaction time, accuracy in Stroop task) mental fatigue, motivation in tasks, and changes in mood state (i.e., BRUMS-C).

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

1. Regular sports training at least 4 hours weekly
2. Normal or corrected-to-normal vision
3. Right-handed

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Physical limitation or injury in lower limbs before and during the study
2. Diagnosed or self-reported neurological disorders (e.g., epilepsy)
3. Diagnosed or self-reported major psychiatric illness (e.g., major depression, schizophrenia)
4. Major previous experience with mindfulness training

Primary outcomes:
measure: Inhibitory Control: Reaction Time
timeFrame: After 30-minute mental fatigue and control conditions at pre-test and post-test (8 weeks)
measure: Inhibitory Control: Accuracy
timeFrame: After 30-minute mental fatigue and control conditions at pre-test and post-test (8 weeks)
measure: ERP: N2
timeFrame: After 30-minute mental fatigue and control conditions at pre-test and post-test (8 weeks)
measure: ERP: P3
timeFrame: After 30-minute mental fatigue and control conditions at pre-test and post-test (8 weeks)
measure: Endurance Performance: Time to Exhaustion
timeFrame: After 30-minute mental fatigue and control conditions at pre-test and post-test (8 weeks)
measure: Endurance Performance: VO2max
timeFrame: After 30-minute mental fatigue and control conditions at pre-test and post-test (8 weeks)
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Subjective Mental Fatigue
timeFrame: Before, after 30-minute Stroop task and after Flanker task in the mental fatigue and control condition at pre-test and post-test (8 weeks)
measure: Objective Mental Fatigue
timeFrame: Post 30-minute mental fatigue and control condition at pre-test and post-test (8 weeks)
measure: Dispositional Mindfulness
timeFrame: Baseline (pre-test) and 8 weeks (post-test)
measure: Mood State: Anger
timeFrame: Before, after 30-minute Stroop task in the mental fatigue and control condition at pre-test and post-test (8 weeks)
measure: Mood State: Confusion
timeFrame: Before, after 30-minute Stroop task in the mental fatigue and control condition at pre-test and post-test (8 weeks)
measure: Mood State: Depression
timeFrame: Before, after 30-minute Stroop task in the mental fatigue and control condition at pre-test and post-test (8 weeks)
measure: Mood State: Fatigue
timeFrame: Before, after 30-minute Stroop task in the mental fatigue and control condition at pre-test and post-test (8 weeks)
measure: Mood State: Tension
timeFrame: Before, after 30-minute Stroop task in the mental fatigue and control condition at pre-test and post-test (8 weeks)
measure: Mood State: Vigour
timeFrame: Before, after 30-minute Stroop task in the mental fatigue and control condition at pre-test and post-test (8 weeks)
measure: Perception of Effort
timeFrame: every 2.5 minutes during graded exercise test
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Taipei
country: Taiwan
facility: Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, National Taiwan Normal University
Study officials:
affiliation: National Taiwan Normal University
name: Yu-Kai Chang, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: