Journal of Semnan University of Medical Sciences
Image Credit:Koomesh
Outline
Comparing the Effect of Physical, Mental, and Combined Fatigue on Cognitive Abilities and Working Memory Performance
Authors
Abstract
Background: Fatigue refers to the feeling of lack of energy in individuals after prolonged cognitive or physical activity. As one of the limiting factors, it affects the amount of learning and execution of movement skills.
Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the effect of physical, mental, and combined fatigue on cognitive abilities and working memory.
Methods: The current research was semi-experimental with a pre-test and post-test design in three experimental groups and one control group. Sixty students (with an average age of 25.87 ± 7.53, right-handed, in good general health, with good sleeping habits, and no drug or alcohol consumption) were purposefully selected and randomly divided into four groups: mental fatigue, physical fatigue, mental-physical fatigue, and control. In the pre-test stage, participants completed the Nejati Cognitive Ability Questionnaire and performed the N-BACK test to measure working memory. The Stroop task (for 60 minutes) was used to induce mental fatigue, and physical and sports activities (for 40 minutes) were used to induce physical fatigue. Participants in the experimental groups completed the visual analog scale questionnaire to measure mental fatigue and the Borg fatigue scale to measure physical fatigue before and after applying the fatigue protocol. Forty-eight hours after the pre-test stage, all four groups completed the Nejati Cognitive Ability Questionnaire and performed the N-BACK test.
Results: The results showed that both types of fatigue led to a decrease in cognitive ability and working memory variables (P = 0.001), but this decrease was significantly greater in the mental fatigue and mental-physical fatigue groups than in the physical fatigue group.
Conclusion: Mental and physical fatigue in learning conditions lead to impairment in cognitive ability and working memory, with mental fatigue having a greater impact compared to physical fatigue.
Highlights
References
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© 2025, Author(s). This open-access article is available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which allows for unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided that the original work is properly cited.
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