Mindfulness Training, Mental Fatigue, Endurance Performance and Neurocognitive Functions

NCT ID: NCT05452460

Last Updated: 2025-01-30

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 53 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2022-02-17
• Study Completion Date: 2023-01-10

Brief Summary

Mental fatigue has been suggested that would impair neurocognitive functions and sports performance. On the other hand, mindfulness training (MT) seems to as a promising approach to attenuate mental fatigue and counteract its detrimental effect on cognitive functions and sports performance. The purpose of the present study is to examine the effect of MT on behavioral and neuroelectric indices of inhibitory control, and endurance performance in mentally fatigued athletes.

Detailed Description

Accumulating research indicates that mental fatigue induced by prolonged cognitive tasks would impair neurocognitive functions and sports performance. Additionally, recent studies demonstrate that inhibitory control and endurance performance are significantly susceptible to detrimental effects of mental fatigue. On the other hand, mindfulness training (MT) has been widely been used to enhance cognitive functions and sports performance in neurocognitive and sports research, which has been considered a promising approach for attenuating mental fatigue and counteracting the detrimental effect of mental fatigue. However, the effect of MT on inhibitory control, endurance performance, and underlying mechanisms in mentally fatigued athletes remain unclear.

Therefore, the purpose of the present study is to examine the effect of MT on behavioral and neuroelectric indices of inhibitory control, and endurance performance in mentally fatigued athletes.

Specifically, the targeted primary outcomes are neurocognitive functions (i.e., reaction time, accuracy and ERPs in Flanker task) and endurance performance (i.e., VO2max & time to exhaustion); The secondary outcomes are changes in dispositional mindfulness, subjective (i.e., scores in visual analog scale)/objective (i.e., reaction time, accuracy in Stroop task) mental fatigue, motivation in tasks, and changes in mood state (i.e., BRUMS-C).

Conditions

Mindfulness Training; Neurocognitive Function; Sports Performance; Mental Fatigue

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Mindfulness training group

Participants in the mindfulness training (MT) group will engage in a 60-min session of mindfulness program per week for 8 weeks.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Mindfulness intervention

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

The mindfulness program called "Mindfulness-based peak performance (MBPP)" will be used in this study. MBPP is a program that consists of eight 60-min training, and a 60-min session weekly for 8-weeks. The MBPP program will include (1) 5 minutes of will start with a brief recap of the preceding session and homework discussion, (2) after which the 5 minutes of a brief story about performance aimed at inducing the learning motivation of the participants; (3) Followed by 20 minutes of a theoretical lecture introducing a new topic and then (4) 25 minutes of mindfulness exercise. (5) Finally, how to apply the mindfulness skills to sports context will be discussed at the end of each session for 5 minutes.

Waitlist control group

Participants in the waitlist control group will be required to maintain regular life and routine training. Once the participants in control group finished the whole experiment, they will be invited to participate in the MBPP program for eight weeks.

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

Mindfulness intervention

The mindfulness program called "Mindfulness-based peak performance (MBPP)" will be used in this study. MBPP is a program that consists of eight 60-min training, and a 60-min session weekly for 8-weeks. The MBPP program will include (1) 5 minutes of will start with a brief recap of the preceding session and homework discussion, (2) after which the 5 minutes of a brief story about performance aimed at inducing the learning motivation of the participants; (3) Followed by 20 minutes of a theoretical lecture introducing a new topic and then (4) 25 minutes of mindfulness exercise. (5) Finally, how to apply the mindfulness skills to sports context will be discussed at the end of each session for 5 minutes.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

1. Regular sports training at least 4 hours weekly

2. Normal or corrected-to-normal vision

3. Right-handed

Exclusion Criteria

1. Physical limitation or injury in lower limbs before and during the study

2. Diagnosed or self-reported neurological disorders (e.g., epilepsy)

3. Diagnosed or self-reported major psychiatric illness (e.g., major depression, schizophrenia)

4. Major previous experience with mindfulness training

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 25 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

National Taiwan Normal University

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Yu-Kai Chang

Professor

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Yu-Kai Chang, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

National Taiwan Normal University

Locations

Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, National Taiwan Normal University

Taipei, , Taiwan

Countries

Taiwan

Provided Documents

Document Type: Study Protocol and Statistical Analysis Plan

View Document

Other Identifiers

PACNL_JT_MF_Intervention

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id