Space Analogs and Behavioral Health Performance Research review and recommendations checklist from ESA Topical Team.

Space analog research has increased over the last few years with new analogs appearing every year. Research in this field is very important for future real mission planning, selection and training of astronauts. Analog environments offer specific characteristics that resemble to some extent the environment of a real space mission.

Prefrontal cortex oxygenation during a mentally fatiguing task in normoxia and hypoxia.

Mental fatigue (MF) and hypoxia impair cognitive performance through changes in brain hemodynamics. We want to elucidate the role of prefrontal cortex (PFC)-oxygenation in MF. Twelve participants (22.

Electrophysiological impact of mental fatigue on brain activity during a bike task: A wavelet analysis approach.

This study explored how mental fatigue affects brain activity during a low-intensity bike task utilising a continuous wavelet transformation in electroencephalography (EEG) analysis. The aim was to examine changes in brain activity potentially linked to central motor commands and to investigate their relationship with ratings of perceived exertion (RPE). In this study, sixteen participants (age: 21 ± 6 y, 7 females, 9 males) underwent one familiarization and two experimental trials in a randomised, blinded, cross-over study design.

The Impact of Mental Fatigue on a Strength Endurance Task: Is There a Role for the Movement-Related Cortical Potential?

Purpose: Several mechanisms have been proposed to explain how mental fatigue degrades sport performance. In terms of endurance performance, a role for an increased perceived exertion has been demonstrated. Using electroencephalography and, more specifically, the movement-related cortical potential (MRCP), the present study explored the neural mechanisms that could underlie the mental fatigue-associated increase in perceived exertion.

Work performance in industry: The impact of mental fatigue and a passive back exoskeleton on work efficiency.

Mental fatigue (MF) is likely to occur in the industrial working population. However, the link between MF and industrial work performance has not been investigated, nor how this interacts with a passive lower back exoskeleton used during industrial work. Therefore, to elucidate its potential effect(s), this study investigated the accuracy of work performance and movement duration through a dual task paradigm and compared results between mentally fatigued volunteers and controls, with and without the exoskeleton.

Interindividual Variability in Mental Fatigue-Related Impairments in Endurance Performance: A Systematic Review and Multiple Meta-regression.

Background: The negative effect of mental fatigue (MF) on physical performance has recently been questioned. One reason behind this could lie in the interindividual differences in MF-susceptibility and the individual features influencing them. However, the range of individual differences in mental fatigue-susceptibility is not known, and there is no clear consensus on which individual features could be responsible for these differences.

A Multiday Professional Padel Tournament Impairs Sleep, Mental Toughness, and Reaction Time: A World Padel Tour Field Study.

This study aimed to assess, for the first time, how self-reported sleep, mental toughness, and reaction time are impacted by a professional padel tournament. In addition, we evaluated whether sex, age, and/or ranking play a role in this possible effect of a tournament on these variables. Twenty-three professional players (15 men, Mage = 24 ± 6 years; eight women, Mage = 21 ± 5 years) were evaluated on two occasions: (a) baseline, in a noncompetitive week and (b) postmeasure, the morning after an individual was eliminated from the tournament.

Correction: Habay et al. Mental Fatigue-Associated Decrease in Table Tennis Performance: Is There an Electrophysiological Signature? 2021, , 12906.

In the published publication [...

Primum non nocere; It's time to consider altitude training as the medical intervention it actually is!

Sleep is one of the most important aspects of recovery, and is known to be severely affected by hypoxia. The present position paper focuses on sleep as a strong moderator of the altitude training-response. Indeed, the response to altitude training is highly variable, it is not a fixed and classifiable trait, rather it is a state that is determined by multiple factors (e.

A drop in cognitive performance, whodunit? Subjective mental fatigue, brain deactivation or increased parasympathetic activity? It's complicated!

Introduction: The discussion on the mechanism(s) underlying mental fatigue is still ongoing. We want to reconfirm a performance-impairing effect of executing a lengthy cognitive task on the subsequent task, and determine how this effect is subtended by neurophysiological variations and subjective experience.

Methods: Twenty participants (12 females; age: 23 ± 1 y) performed an experimental (EXP) and a control trial (CON) in a randomized counter-balanced order.

Adult Female Sleep During Hypoxic Bed Rest.

Purpose: Hypobaric hypoxic habitats are currently being touted as a potential solution to minimise decompression procedures in preparation for extra vehicular activities during future space missions. Since astronauts will live in hypoxic environments for the duration of such missions, the present study sought to elucidate the separate and combined effects of inactivity [simulated with the experimental bed rest (BR) model] and hypoxia on sleep characteristics in women.

Methods: Twelve women (Age = 27 ± 3 year) took part in three 10-day interventions, in a repeated measures cross-over counterbalanced design: (1) normobaric normoxic BR (NBR), (2) normobaric hypoxic BR (HBR; simulated altitude of 4,000 m), and (3) normobaric hypoxic ambulatory (HAMB; 4,000 m) confinement, during which sleep was assessed on night 1 and night 10 with polysomnography.

How to Tackle Mental Fatigue: A Systematic Review of Potential Countermeasures and Their Underlying Mechanisms.

Introduction: Mental fatigue (MF) is a psychobiological state that impairs cognitive as well as physical performance in different settings. Recently, numerous studies have sought ways to counteract these negative effects of MF. An overview of the explored countermeasures for MF is, however, lacking.

Lessons From Special Forces Operators for Elite Team Sports Training: How to Make the Whole Greater Than the Sum of the Parts.

This methodology paper describes the design of a holistic and multidisciplinary human performance program within the Belgian Special Forces Group, the Tier 1 Special Operations unit of the Belgian Defense. Performance management approaches in the military draw heavily on sports science. The key component of the program design described here is its integrative nature, which team sports training might benefit from.

The submariners' sleep study: a field investigation of sleep and circadian hormones during a 67-day submarine mission with a strict 6-h-on/6-h-off watch routine.

The submarine working and living environment is an isolated, confined, and extreme (ICE) environment where a continuous on-watch is required to fulfill the tactical objectives. The current study examined whether a physiological and behavioral adjustment to an operational watch standing scheme occurred in terms of hormonal secretion (i.e.

Mental Fatigue-Associated Decrease in Table Tennis Performance: Is There an Electrophysiological Signature?

Mental fatigue (MF) is a psychobiological state negatively impacting both cognitive and physical performance. Although recent research implies that some table tennis (TT) performance outcomes are impaired by MF, open skill sports such as TT require a more detailed overview of MF-related performance decrements. Moreover, research into MF and sport-specific psychomotor performance lacks the inclusion of brain-related measurements to identify MF mechanisms.

Prefrontal Cortex Oxygenation During Endurance Performance: A Systematic Review of Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Studies.

A myriad of factors underlie pacing-/exhaustion-decisions that are made during whole-body endurance performance. The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is a brain region that is crucial for decision-making, planning, and attention. PFC oxygenation seems to be a mediating factor of performance decisions during endurance performance.

The Cognitive-Vestibular Compensation Hypothesis: How Cognitive Impairments Might Be the Cost of Coping With Compensation.

Previous research in vestibular cognition has clearly demonstrated a link between the vestibular system and several cognitive and emotional functions. However, the most coherent results supporting this link come from rodent models and healthy human participants artificial stimulation models. Human research with vestibular-damaged patients shows much more variability in the observed results, mostly because of the heterogeneity of vestibular loss (VL), and the interindividual differences in the natural vestibular compensation process.

A State-of-the-Art Review on the Use of Modafinil as A Performance-enhancing Drug in the Context of Military Operationality.

Introduction: Modafinil is an eugeroic drug that has been examined to maintain or recover wakefulness, alertness, and cognitive performance when sleep deprived. In a nonmilitary context, the use of modafinil as a nootropic or smart drug, i.e.

How Mentally Fatiguing Are Consecutive World Padel Tour Matches?

It is currently unknown whether mental fatigue occurs throughout a WPT competition and whether consecutive matches affect how mentally fatiguing a match is perceived to be. The objective was to quantify the effects of successive professional matches on mental fatigue. A total of 14 professional players (9 males, Mage = 25, 5 females, Mage = 21) participated during qualified rounds of a WPT with three eliminatory matches: Match 1 (morning) and 2 (afternoon) on day 1 ( = 14), Match 3 (morning) on day 2 ( = 6).

Impact of a Carbohydrate Mouth Rinse on Corticomotor Excitability after Mental Fatigue in Healthy College-Aged Subjects.

Unlabelled: Mental Fatigue (MF) has been associated with reduced physical performance but the mechanisms underlying this result are unclear. A reduction in excitability of the corticomotor system is a way mental fatigue could negatively impact physical performance. Carbohydrate (CHO) mouth rinse (MR) has been shown to increase corticomotor excitability.

Mental Fatigue and Sport-Specific Psychomotor Performance: A Systematic Review.

Background: Mental fatigue (MF) is a psychobiological state that impairs endurance performance in healthy athletes. Recently, multiple studies indicated that MF could also impair sport-specific psychomotor performance (SSPP). Nevertheless, a systematic overview detailing the effects of MF on SSPP is currently lacking.

Surgery in Nasal Polyp Patients: Outcome After a Minimum Observation of 10 Years.

Background: Chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) often requires surgery, but recurrence even after surgery is common. Recurrence rates largely vary in literature and asthma seems to be a comorbid factor.

Objective: In this study, we aim to estimate disease recurrence during a long-term follow-up, together with the investigation of possible predicting and/or influencing parameters.

Endurance exercise-induced and mental fatigue and the brain.

New Findings: What is the topic of this review? It provides an overview of the recent papers linking brain neurotransmission with exercise-induced and/or mental fatigue. What advances does it highlight? The noradrenergic neurotransmitter system hastens central fatigue during prolonged exercise, a finding that coincides with a faster rate of increase in the rating of perceived exertion. 2) Mental fatigue affects several neurotransmitter systems, with presumably an important role for dopamine and adenosine, in multiple brain regions such as the prefrontal cortex and the anterior cingulate cortex.