Study on How Physical Fatigue Levels Affect Mental Effort and Performance During Dual Tasks in Healthy Adults Aged 18 to 30

What this Trial Is About

Researchers are investigating how different levels of physical fatigue affect mental effort and performance during activities that require doing two tasks at once. The study focuses on understanding the relationship between physical tiredness and cognitive load, aiming to clarify how physical exertion influences mental performance and overall work efficiency in daily life. This research is supported by Riphah International University and aims to improve health and safety in workplace environments by exploring these effects. Participants will be divided into three groups based on their target heart rate ranges during treadmill exercise mild-intensity 50-60% of maximum heart rate, moderate-intensity 60-70%, and high-intensity 70-80%. Each participant will perform a cognitive task before and after undergoing physical fatigue induced by treadmill training at their assigned intensity level. The study uses a randomized design to assign physical exertion levels and includes triple masking to reduce bias. During the study, participants will undergo multiple assessments including heart rate variability and galvanic skin response measurements taken at baseline and multiple times during the procedure. They will also complete the NASA task load index and Borg scale of perceived exertion at various points to measure cognitive load and physical fatigue. These evaluations help researchers monitor physiological and mental responses to physical fatigue and dual-task performance over the study duration.

Effects of Physical Fatigue on Cognitive Load and Performance Under Dual-Task Environments.