Abstract
We examined the influence of perceived cognitive fatigue on static balance control in healthy young adults to gain greater clarity about this issue than provided in previous research. Based on the prevailing assumption in pertinent literature, we hypothesized that the influence of cognitive fatigue on balance control depends on the attentional effort required by the balance tasks being performed. To test this hypothesis, 44 young adults (24 women and 20 men) were alternately assigned to either the experimental group that was cognitively fatigued (using the 16-min TloadDback-task with individualized settings) or the control group (who watched a documentary). Before and after the intervention, the participants performed six balance tasks that differed in (attentional) control requirements, while recording the center of pressure (COP). From these time series, sway variability, mean speed, and sample entropy were calculated and analyzed statistically. Additionally, perceived cognitive fatigue was assessed using VAS scales. Statistical analyses confirmed that the balance tasks differed in control characteristics and that cognitive fatigue was elevated in the experimental group, but not in the control group. Nevertheless, no significant main effects of cognitive fatigue were found on any of the COP measures of interest, except for some non-robust interaction effects related primarily to sample entropy. These results suggest that, in young adults, postural control in static balance tasks is largely automatic and unaffected by task-induced state fatigue.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
To allow reproducibility of our results and any further analyses all data and code can be found at: https://osf.io/jatc6/.
Notes
While these reviews, as well as most of the papers cited, often use the term ‘mental fatigue’, we have decided to adopt more contemporary terminology, following the framework proposed by Behrens et al. (2023). We will use the term ‘cognitive fatigue’ when addressing both the perceived and performance fatigue.
References
Amboni M, Barone P, Hausdorff JM (2013) Cognitive contributions to gait and falls: evidence and implications. Mov Disord 28:1520–1533. https://doi.org/10.1002/mds.25674
Barrouillet P, Bernardin S, Portrat S, Vergauwe E, Camos V (2007) Time and cognitive load in working memory. J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn 33:570–585. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.33.3.570
Batuk IT, Batuk MO, Aksoy S (2020) Evaluation of the postural balance and visual perception in young adults with acute sleep deprivation. J Vestib Res 30:383–391. https://doi.org/10.3233/VES-200778
Becker KA, Hung CJ (2020) Attentional focus influences sample entropy in a balancing task. Hum Mov Sci 72:102631. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.humov.2020.102631
Behrens M, Mau-Moeller A, Lischke A et al (2018) Mental fatigue increases gait variability during dual-task walking in old adults. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 73:792–797. https://doi.org/10.1093/gerona/glx210
Behrens M, Gube M, Chaabene H et al (2023) Fatigue and human performance: an updated framework. Sports Med 53:7–31. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-022-01748-2
Bergamin M, Gobbo S, Zanotto T, Sieverdes JC, Alberton CL, Zaccaria M, Ermolao A (2014) Influence of age on postural sway during different dual-task conditions. Front Aging Neurosci 6:271. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnagi.2014.00271
Bisson EJ, McEwen D, Lajoie Y, Bilodeau M (2011) Effects of ankle and hip muscle fatigue on postural sway and attentional demands during unipedal stance. Gait Posture 33:83–87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gaitpost.2010.10.001
Boksem MA, Meijman TF, Lorist MM (2005) Effects of mental fatigue on attention: an ERP study. Cogn Brain Res 25:107–116. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogbrainres.2005.04.011
Borragan G, Slama H, Destrebecqz A, Peigneux P (2016) Cognitive fatigue facilitates procedural sequence learning. Front Hum Neurosci 10:86. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2016.00086
Borragan G, Slama H, Bartolomei M, Peigneux P (2017) Cognitive fatigue: a time-based resource-sharing account. Cortex 89:71–84. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2017.01.023
Brahms M, Heinzel S, Rapp M, Muckstein M, Hortobagyi T, Stelzel C, Granacher U (2022) The acute effects of mental fatigue on balance performance in healthy young and older adults—a systematic review and meta-analysis. Acta Psychol (amst) 225:103540. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2022.103540
Burr J, Nesselroade J (1990) Statistical methods in longitudinal research: principles and structuring change. American Press Inc., London
Buysse DJ, Reynolds CF 3rd, Monk TH, Berman SR, Kupfer DJ (1989) The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index: a new instrument for psychiatric practice and research. Psychiatry Res 28:193–213. https://doi.org/10.1016/0165-1781(89)90047-4
Cheng S, Ma J, Sun J, Wang J, Xiao X, Wang Y, Hu W (2018) Differences in sensory reweighting due to loss of visual and proprioceptive cues in postural stability support among sleep-deprived cadet pilots. Gait Posture 63:97–103. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gaitpost.2018.04.037
Cohen J (1988) Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, London
Deschamps T, Magnard J, Cornu C (2013) Postural control as a function of time-of-day: influence of a prior strenuous running exercise or demanding sustained-attention task. J Neuroeng Rehabil 10:26. https://doi.org/10.1186/1743-0003-10-26
Deschamps T, Beauchet O, Annweiler C, Cornu C, Mignardot JB (2014) Postural control and cognitive decline in older adults: position versus velocity implicit motor strategy. Gait Posture 39:628–630. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gaitpost.2013.07.001
Donker SF, Roerdink M, Greven AJ, Beek PJ (2007) Regularity of center-of-pressure trajectories depends on the amount of attention invested in postural control. Exp Brain Res 181:1–11. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-007-0905-4
Dos Santos DG, Prado-Rico JM, Alouche SR, Garbus R, de Freitas PB, de Freitas S (2019) Combined effects of the light touch and cognitive task affect the components of postural sway. Neurosci Lett 703:99–103. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neulet.2019.03.027
Duarte M, Freitas SM (2010) Revision of posturography based on force plate for balance evaluation. Rev Bras Fisioter 14:183–192
Enoka RM, Duchateau J (2016) Translating fatigue to human performance. Med Sci Sports Exerc 48:2228–2238. https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000000929
Faul F, Erdfelder E, Lang AG, Buchner A (2007) G*Power 3: a flexible statistical power analysis program for the social, behavioral, and biomedical sciences. Behav Res Methods 39:175–191. https://doi.org/10.3758/bf03193146
Field A (2018) Discovering statistics using IBM SPSS statistics. Sage, London
Fothergill L (2007) Earth (Motion picture). In: BBC worldwide
Gorrall BK, Curtis J, Little TD, Panko P (2016) Innovations in measurement: visual analog scales and retrospective pretest self-report designs. Actual Psicol 30:1–6. https://doi.org/10.15517/ap.v30i120.22932
Grobe S, Kakar RS, Smith ML, Mehta R, Baghurst T, Boolani A (2017) Impact of cognitive fatigue on gait and sway among older adults: a literature review. Prevent Med Rep 6:88–93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmedr.2017.02.016
Hachard B, Noé F, Ceyte H, Trajin B, Paillard T (2020) Balance control is impaired by mental fatigue due to the fulfilment of a continuous cognitive task or by the watching of a documentary. Exp Brain Res 238:861–868. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-020-05758-2
Hockey R (2013) The psychology of fatigue; work effort and control. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Howard GS (1980) Response-shift bias. Eval Rev 4:93–106. https://doi.org/10.1177/0193841X8000400105
Jacquet T, Poulin-Charronnat B, Bard P, Lepers R (2020) Persistence of mental fatigue on motor control. Front Psychol 11:588253. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.588253
Jeka JJ, Lackner JR (1994) Fingertip contact influences human postural control. Exp Brain Res 79:495–502. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00229188
Kerr B, Condon SM, McDonald LA (1985) Cognitive spatial processing and the regulation of posture. J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform 11:617–622. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-1523.11.5.617
Lajoie Y, Teasdale N, Bard C, Fleury M (1993) Attentional demands for static and dynamic equilibrium. Exp Brain Res 97:139–144. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00228824
Lake DE, Richman JS, Griffin MP, Moorman JR (2002) Sample entropy analysis of neonatal heart rate variability. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 283:R789-797. https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpregu.00069.2002
Lee Y, Shin S (2019) Effects of the shape of the base of support and dual task execution on postural control. Asian J Kinesiol 21:14–24. https://doi.org/10.15758/ajk.2019.21.1.14
Lew FL, Qu X (2014) Effects of mental fatigue on biomechanics of slips. Ergonomics 57:1927–1932. https://doi.org/10.1080/00140139.2014.937771
Marsh-Richard DM, Hatzis ES, Mathias CW, Venditti N, Dougherty DM (2009) Adaptive Visual Analog Scales (AVAS): a modifiable software program for the creation, administration, and scoring of visual analog scales. Behav Res Methods 41:99–106. https://doi.org/10.3758/BRM.41.1.99
Martínez-Cagigal V (2018) Sample entropy. In: Mathworks
Montesinos L, Castaldo R, Pecchia L (2018) On the use of approximate entropy and sample entropy with centre of pressure time-series. J Neuroeng Rehabil 15:116. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12984-018-0465-9
Muir SW, Speechley M, Wells J, Borrie M, Gopaul K, Montero-Odasso M (2012) Gait assessment in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease: the effect of dual-task challenges across the cognitive spectrum. Gait Posture 35:96–100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gaitpost.2011.08.014
Nashner LM (1976) Adapting reflexes controlling the human posture. Exp Brain Res 26:59–72. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00235249
Noé F, Hachard B, Ceyte H, Bru N, Paillard T (2021) Relationship between the level of mental fatigue induced by a prolonged cognitive task and the degree of balance disturbance. Exp Brain Res 239:2273–2283. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-021-06139-z
O’Keeffe K, Hodder S, Lloyd A (2019) A comparison of methods used for inducing mental fatigue in performance research: individualised, dual-task and short duration cognitive tests are most effective. Ergonomics 63:1–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/00140139.2019.1687940
Papegaaij S, Taube W, Baudry S, Otten E, Hortobagyi T (2014) Aging causes a reorganization of cortical and spinal control of posture. Front Aging Neurosci 6:28. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnagi.2014.00028
Patel M, Gomez S, Berg S et al (2008) Effects of 24-h and 36-h sleep deprivation on human postural control and adaptation. Exp Brain Res 185:165–173. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-007-1143-5
Pitts J, Bhatt T (2023) Effects of mentally induced fatigue on balance control: a systematic review. Exp Brain Res 241:13–30. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-022-06464-x
Potvin-Desrochers A, Richer N, Lajoie Y (2017) Cognitive tasks promote automatization of postural control in young and older adults. Gait Posture 57:40–45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gaitpost.2017.05.019
Prado JM, Stoffregen TA, Duarte M (2007) Postural sway during dual tasks in young and elderly adults. Gerontology 53:274–281. https://doi.org/10.1159/000102938
Raymakers JA, Samson MM, Verhaar HJ (2005) The assessment of body sway and the choice of the stability parameter(s). Gait Posture 21:48–58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gaitpost.2003.11.006
Rhea CK, Diekfuss JA, Fairbrother JT, Raisbeck LD (2019) Postural control entropy is increased when adopting an external focus of attention. Mot Control 23:230–242. https://doi.org/10.1123/mc.2017-0089
Richer N, Lajoie Y (2020) Automaticity of postural control while dual-tasking revealed in young and older adults. Exp Aging Res 46:1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/0361073X.2019.1693044
Richman JS, Moorman JR (2000) Physiological time-series analysis using approximate entropy and sample entropy. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 278:H2039-2049. https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpheart.2000.278.6.H2039
Roerdink M, De Haart M, Daffertshofer A, Donker SF, Geurts AC, Beek PJ (2006) Dynamical structure of center-of-pressure trajectories in patients recovering from stroke. Exp Brain Res 174:256–269. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-006-0441-7
Ruffieux J, Keller M, Lauber B, Taube W (2015) Changes in standing and walking performance under dual-task conditions across the lifespan. Sports Med 45:1739–1758. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-015-0369-9
Sarabon N, Rosker J, Loefler S, Kern H (2013) The effect of vision elimination during quiet stance tasks with different feet positions. Gait Posture 38:708–711. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gaitpost.2013.03.005
Skau S, Sundberg K, Kuhn H-G (2021) A proposal for a unifying set of definitions of fatigue. Front Psychol. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.739764
Smith MR, Chai R, Nguyen HT, Marcora SM, Coutts AJ (2019) Comparing the effects of three cognitive tasks on indicators of mental fatigue. J Psychol 153:759–783. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223980.2019.1611530
Stins JF, Michielsen ME, Roerdink M, Beek PJ (2009) Sway regularity reflects attentional involvement in postural control: effects of expertise, vision and cognition. Gait Posture 30:106–109. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gaitpost.2009.04.001
Stins JF, Roerdink M, Beek PJ (2011) To freeze or not to freeze? Affective and cognitive perturbations have markedly different effects on postural control. Hum Mov Sci 30:190–202. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.humov.2010.05.013
Takakusaki K, Saitoh K, Harada H, Kashiwayanagi M (2004) Role of basal ganglia-brainstem pathways in the control of motor behaviors. Neurosci Res 50:137–151. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neures.2004.06.015
Tanaka M (2015) Effects of mental fatigue on brain activity and cognitive performance: a magnetoencephalography study. Anatomy Physiol. https://doi.org/10.4172/2161-0940.s4-002
Tassignon B, Verschueren J, Pauw KD, Roelands B, Cutsem JV, Verhagen E, Meeusen R (2020) Mental fatigue impairs clinician-friendly balance test performance and brain activity. Transl Sports Med 3:616–625. https://doi.org/10.1002/tsm2.177
Teasdale N, Bard C, LaRue J, Fleury M (1993) On the cognitive penetrability of posture control. Exp Aging Res 19:1–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/03610739308253919
Teo WP, Goodwill AM, Hendy AM, Muthalib M, Macpherson H (2018) Sensory manipulation results in increased dorsolateral prefrontal cortex activation during static postural balance in sedentary older adults: an fNIRS study. Brain Behav 8:e01109. https://doi.org/10.1002/brb3.1109
Varas-Diaz G, Kannan L, Bhatt T (2020) Effect of mental fatigue on postural sway in healthy older adults and stroke populations. Brain Sci. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci10060388
Vartia YO (1976) Relative changes and index numbers. The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy
Verschueren JO, Tassignon B, Proost M et al (2020) Does mental fatigue negatively affect outcomes of functional performance tests? Med Sci Sports Exerc 52:2002–2010. https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000002323
Warnica MJ, Weaver TB, Prentice SD, Laing AC (2014) The influence of ankle muscle activation on postural sway during quiet stance. Gait Posture 39:1115–1121. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gaitpost.2014.01.019
Yamada M, Raisbeck LD (2021) The autonomy and focus of attention strategies under distraction: Frequency and sample entropy analyses in a dynamic balance task. Hum Mov Sci 80:102882. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.humov.2021.102882
Funding
This work was supported in part by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) under Grant P16-28 (Project 3).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
None of the authors report any conflict of interest.
Consent to participate
All participants signed an informed consent form prior to the experiment.
Ethical approval
This study was approved by the local ethics committee of the Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VCWE-2022-154R2) and the protocol fully complied with the Declarations of Helsinki.
Preprint
The preprint version of this study can be found on BioRxiv under the https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.07.05.547754.
Additional information
Communicated by Bill J Yates.
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Weissinger, K., Bach, M.M., Brachman, A. et al. Perceived cognitive fatigue has only marginal effects on static balance control in healthy young adults. Exp Brain Res 242, 163–177 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-023-06736-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-023-06736-0