Monitoring the Effect of Mental Fatigue on Physical Performance Using Wearable Sensors and Physiological Parameters

Vrije Universiteit Brussel

Status: Enrolling

Conditions: Mental Fatigue

Treatments: Behavioral: Mental Fatigue

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT07323810

EC-2025-113

Details and patient eligibility

About

Mental fatigue (MF) negatively affects both cognitive and physical performance, increasing the risk of errors in high-stakes environments such as sports and surgery. Traditional methods to assess MF rely on subjective self-report scales, which are prone to bias, or on complex brain measurements (e.g. EEG) that are impractical outside laboratory settings. This study aims to develop a real-time, objective monitoring method for MF using wearable physiological sensors. The study will recruit healthy, trained runners (18-35 years old) who will complete both an MF-inducing cognitive task (Stroop test) and a control condition (watching a documentary) in a randomized, counterbalanced, crossover design. Heart rate variability, respiration rate, and pupil metrics will be continuously recorded using wearable devices. Machine learning models will be used to predict MF-level as well as the effect of MF on physical performance (5-km time trial on a treadmill) using the physiological data as input.

Enrollment: 30 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 35 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Healthy (no neurological, cardiovascular or musculoskeletal disorders of any kind)
• Male or female
• No prior knowledge of the concept of MF
• No medication
• Non-smoker
• 18-35 years of age
• Experienced runners: (≥15km/week and/or ≥2u/week during the last 6 months)

Exclusion criteria

• Injuries in the past 6 months, affecting running performance
• Suffering from a chronic health condition (could be neurological, cardiovascular, internal or musculoskeletal)
• Participating in any concomitant care or research trials
• History of suffering from any mental/psychiatric disorders
• Use of medication
• Use of caffeine and heavy efforts 24 hours prior each trial
• Suffering from colour vision deficiencies
• Not eating a standardized meal, the morning of each trial and the evening before each trial

Trial design

Primary purpose: Basic Science

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Crossover Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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30 participants in 2 patient groups

Mental Fatigue Condition

Experimental group

Description:

The mental fatigue task will involve a modified Stroop test, adapted from previous research. Words will appear on the screen in 34-point font for 1000 milliseconds, with the inter-stimulus interval personalized based on each participant's Stroop max test performance. Stroop task duration will be 60 minutes for every participant. Participants will be instructed to respond as quickly and accurately as possible.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Mental Fatigue

Control condition

No Intervention group

Description:

The control task will consist of watching a pre-approved, emotionally neutral 60-minute documentary.