The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Independent and interactive effects of thermal stress and mental fatigue on manual dexterity

Independent and interactive effects of thermal stress and mental fatigue on manual dexterity
Independent and interactive effects of thermal stress and mental fatigue on manual dexterity
Many occupations and sports require high levels of manual dexterity under thermal stress and mental fatigue. Yet, multistressor studies remain scarce. We quantified the interactive effects of thermal stress and mental fatigue on manual dexterity. Seven males (21.1 ± 1.3 yr) underwent six separate 60-min trials characterized by a combination of three air temperatures (hot, 37°C; neutral, 21°C; cold, 7°C) and two mental fatigue states (MF, mental fatigue induced by a 35-min cognitive battery; no-MF, no mental fatigue). Participants performed complex (O’Connor test) and simple (hand-tool test) manual tasks pre- and posttrial to determine stressor-induced performance changes. We monitored participants’ rectal temperature and hand skin temperature (Thand) continuously and assessed the reaction time (hand-click test) and subjective mental fatigue (5-point scale). Thermal stress (P < 0.0001), but not mental fatigue (P = 0.290), modulated Thand (heat, +3.3°C [95% CI: +0.2, +6.5]; cold, −7.5°C [−10.7, −4.4]). Mental fatigue (P = 0.021), but not thermal stress (P = 0.646), slowed the reaction time (∼10%) and increased subjective fatigue. Thermal stress and mental fatigue had an interactive effect on the complex manual task (P = 0.040), with cold-no-MF decreasing the performance by −22% [−39, −5], whereas neutral-MF, cold-MF, and heat-MF by −36% [−53, −19], −34% [−52, −17], and −36% [−53, −19], respectively. Only mental fatigue decreased the performance in the simple manual task (−30% [−43, −16] across all thermal conditions; P = 0.002). Cold stress-induced impairments in complex manipulation increase with mental fatigue; yet combined stressors’ effects are no greater than those of mental fatigue alone, which also impairs simple manipulation. Mental fatigue poses a greater challenge to manual dexterity than thermal stress.
Valenza, Alessandro
60b629a5-c527-4137-8efb-6670b165d319
Charlier, Harry
3d07212f-ba46-415f-911c-c8f63e613a08
Bianco, Antonino
c813a96b-983f-438f-8ee8-36c67746e727
Filingeri, Davide
42502a34-e7e6-4b49-b304-ce2ae0bf7b24
Valenza, Alessandro
60b629a5-c527-4137-8efb-6670b165d319
Charlier, Harry
3d07212f-ba46-415f-911c-c8f63e613a08
Bianco, Antonino
c813a96b-983f-438f-8ee8-36c67746e727
Filingeri, Davide
42502a34-e7e6-4b49-b304-ce2ae0bf7b24

Valenza, Alessandro, Charlier, Harry, Bianco, Antonino and Filingeri, Davide (2020) Independent and interactive effects of thermal stress and mental fatigue on manual dexterity. American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology. (doi:10.1152/ajpregu.00226.2020).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Many occupations and sports require high levels of manual dexterity under thermal stress and mental fatigue. Yet, multistressor studies remain scarce. We quantified the interactive effects of thermal stress and mental fatigue on manual dexterity. Seven males (21.1 ± 1.3 yr) underwent six separate 60-min trials characterized by a combination of three air temperatures (hot, 37°C; neutral, 21°C; cold, 7°C) and two mental fatigue states (MF, mental fatigue induced by a 35-min cognitive battery; no-MF, no mental fatigue). Participants performed complex (O’Connor test) and simple (hand-tool test) manual tasks pre- and posttrial to determine stressor-induced performance changes. We monitored participants’ rectal temperature and hand skin temperature (Thand) continuously and assessed the reaction time (hand-click test) and subjective mental fatigue (5-point scale). Thermal stress (P < 0.0001), but not mental fatigue (P = 0.290), modulated Thand (heat, +3.3°C [95% CI: +0.2, +6.5]; cold, −7.5°C [−10.7, −4.4]). Mental fatigue (P = 0.021), but not thermal stress (P = 0.646), slowed the reaction time (∼10%) and increased subjective fatigue. Thermal stress and mental fatigue had an interactive effect on the complex manual task (P = 0.040), with cold-no-MF decreasing the performance by −22% [−39, −5], whereas neutral-MF, cold-MF, and heat-MF by −36% [−53, −19], −34% [−52, −17], and −36% [−53, −19], respectively. Only mental fatigue decreased the performance in the simple manual task (−30% [−43, −16] across all thermal conditions; P = 0.002). Cold stress-induced impairments in complex manipulation increase with mental fatigue; yet combined stressors’ effects are no greater than those of mental fatigue alone, which also impairs simple manipulation. Mental fatigue poses a greater challenge to manual dexterity than thermal stress.

Text
ajpregu.00226.2020 (1) - Accepted Manuscript
Download (465kB)

More information

Accepted/In Press date: 8 October 2020
Published date: 1 December 2020

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 450072
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/450072
PURE UUID: 8e6a76c0-7e3c-47f8-ada2-ff19a3f7af38
ORCID for Davide Filingeri: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-5652-395X

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 08 Jul 2021 16:31
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 06:34

Export record

Altmetrics

Contributors

Author: Alessandro Valenza
Author: Harry Charlier
Author: Antonino Bianco

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×