About this Research Topic

Background

Prolonged periods of cognitive activity or high cognitive demand for a short period can generate a psychobiological state of mental fatigue, which is characterized by an increased sensation of tiredness and low energy, impairing executive function (e.g., sustained attention, inhibitory response, and working memory), and altering brain neural activity. Within the sporting context, athletes and technical staff report many situations involving a high cognitive demand as potentially responsible for the development of mental fatigue (e.g., media engagement, playing videogame, and travel to the training or competition).

Several studies have shown that mental fatigue impairs endurance performance. On the other hand, mental fatigue does not seem to affect anaerobic capacity or neuromuscular performance (i.e., maximal strength, power, and speed production). Recently, a few studies have shown a negative mental fatigue effect on technical skills of different sports and sport-related perceptual-cognitive skills.

Available evidence suggests, therefore, that mental fatigue can have important implications for performance and programming training sessions in various sports modalities, such as (ultra)endurance trials and team, combat, and racket sports. However, as this area of research continues to emerge within sporting contexts, further clarity is required. Thus, we are interested in the present Research Topic in studies that address the following themes:

• Validity, reproducibility, and practicality of measures to detect mental fatigue within sporting contexts;
• Factors responsible for the development of mental fatigue in different sports;
• Sex differences for the effect of mental fatigue on endurance performance, technical skills, or sport-related perceptual-cognitive skills;
• Competition-level differences for the effect of mental fatigue on endurance performance, technical skills, or sport-related perceptual-cognitive skills (including studies that utilize more ‘ecologically valid’ mentally fatiguing tasks);
• Effect of mental fatigue on technical, tactical, and physical performance in team, combat, or racket sports;
• Strategies to reverse or attenuate the negative effect of mental fatigue;
• Athletes’ psychological traits and states that could influence mental fatigue development;
• Mental fatigue occurrence throughout the preparatory phase and the competitive season in different sports;
• Neurophysiological mechanisms underpinning the effect of mental fatigue on endurance performance, technical skills, or sport-related perceptual-cognitive skills.

Keywords: cognition, neuroscience, brain, psychology, physiology, sport performance, mental fatigue

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