Physical Activity and Music to Counteract Mental Fatigue

Mental fatigue impairs both cognitive and physical performance. Bioactive substances (e.g., caffeine) have been used to counteract mental fatigue but could have side effects. The present study aimed to test two non-bioactive strategies to counteract mental fatigue: physical activity and listening to music. The participants first performed an arm-pointing task, then carried out a 32-min cognitively demanding task to induce mental fatigue (TLDB task), followed by another arm-pointing task at the end of the experiment. Between the end of the cognitively demanding task and the last arm-pointing task, 20 min went during which participants performed either 15 min of physical activity, of listening to music or of discussion (control). The subjective feeling of mental fatigue was assessed before each arm-pointing task and after the cognitively demanding task. For "physical activity" and "listening to music" groups, EEG was recorded at rest after each evaluation of subjective feeling of mental fatigue and during the cognitively demanding task. An increase in alpha power during the cognitively demanding task evidenced the presence of mental fatigue, without recovery during the following 20-min period. In the control condition, the arm-pointing task performance was deteriorated 20-min after the cognitively demanding task, while it remained stable after both physical activity and listening to music. Furthermore, recovery on the subjective feeling of mental fatigue was similar for both groups. The present results suggested that practicing physical activity and listening to music could be efficient strategies to counteract the negative effects of mental fatigue on motor performances.