Journal of Sports and Motor Development and Learning

Abstract Introduction: Mental fatigue significantly impacts sports performance, particularly in precision-oriented disciplines such as air pistol shooting. This research aims to investigate the effects of mental fatigue on performance accuracy and alpha wave activity with EEG in air pistol athletes.
Method: This semi-experimental study involved two groups, consisting of 20 shooters divided into a mental fatigue group (N = 10 participants) and a control group (N = 10 participants). The Stroop test was employed to induce mental fatigue. Sports performance was assessed by having participants shoot 15 arrows at a shooting range, while alpha wave activity was measured using a 30-channel electroencephalography (EEG) device in two phases: before and after the shooting test. Statistical analysis was conducted using MATLAB, EEGLab, Excel software and 2x2 mixed analysis of variance with SPSS version 26 software at a significance level of 0.05.
Results: The results indicated that the mental fatigue group exhibited a decrease in shooting accuracy performance and an increase in alpha wave activity across five brain regions (F4, Ft7, C4, T8, P7), specifically in the frontal, central, temporal, and parietal areas. However, no changes were observed in the control group.
Conclusion: These results highlight the significance of managing mental fatigue in precision-oriented sports and suggest the development of training programs and coping strategies aimed at reducing mental fatigue to enhance athletes' performance.

Abstract Introduction: Basketball is a dynamic sport requiring rapid and accurate decision-making under conditions of fatigue. Both mental and physical fatigue have been shown to impair cognitive and motor performance. However, the combined effects of these two types of fatigue on decision-making processes across different skill levels in basketball players remain underexplored. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the impact of mental and physical fatigue on the decision-making abilities of skilled and novice basketball players.
Methods: In this quasi-experimental study, 30 female basketball players (15 skilled and 15 novices, aged 18–25) participated. Mental fatigue was induced via the Stroop test, and physical fatigue was induced through a basketball-specific circuit protocol. Decision-making was assessed by presenting participants with video clips of real-game scenarios, with measures of accuracy and response time recorded for analysis. Data were analyzed using paired t-tests and ANCOVA to compare performance changes.
Results: Both mental and physical fatigue significantly reduced decision-making accuracy and increased response time in both skilled and novice groups (p < 0.05). In novice players, physical fatigue caused a greater increase in response time compared to mental fatigue. However, no significant differences were observed between skill levels in terms of fatigue-induced declines in decision-making performance.
Conclusion: The results demonstrate that mental and physical fatigue substantially impair basketball players’ decision-making performance. These findings underscore the importance of incorporating fatigue management strategies in both training and competitive settings, which should be tailored according to players’ skill levels.

Abstract Methods: The participants included 40 shooters who were randomly divided into four groups. In pre-test, the subjects shot thirty arrows at red, blue, and white targets as environmental change factors, and brain waves were simultaneously recorded by an electroencephalography device. Then, mental fatigue group performed a thirty-minute Stroop task, the physical fatigue group performed thirty minutes of work on a stationary bicycle, and the combined group performed fifteen minutes of Stroop and fifteen minutes of cycling. The control group did not receive any intervention. Finally, the post-test was taken according to the pre-test. The data were evaluated using SPSS27, Excel10, and Matlab2019 software and the combined analysis of variance method.
Results: The results showed that in red and white sables, all types of fatigue led to increased alpha wave activity, possibly indicating a compensatory mechanism for the brain to maintain focus. In contrast, in exposure to blue sables, all forms of fatigue caused a decrease in alpha wave activity, indicating an increased brain processing load.
Conclusion: The neural response to fatigue is not an absolute and fixed phenomenon, but is dynamically influenced by environmental features, including the color of visual stimuli. Increased alpha activity in response to red and white stimuli may represent a compensatory strategy of the brain to maintain performance under conditions of fatigue, while decreased alpha activity in response to blue stimuli likely reflects increased processing load and altered attentional mechanisms. These results emphasize the importance of considering environmental variables in studies of fatigue and cognitive performance.

Abstract This study aimed to investigate the effects of peripheral and central fatigues on depth perception error in students. The statistical population consisted of students in Khodabande city. 42 subjects (mean age of 16.88 ± 0.49 years) were selected by convenience sampling method. All subjects took depth perception pretest. Then, they were divided into the intervention and control groups. To produce peripheral fatigue (physical), the first group received physical fitness activity and the second group received mental activity to produce central (mental) fatigue. The third group did not perform any activity during the intervention period. The depth perception posttest was performed after the fatigue intervention. The results of one-way analysis of variance showed no significant differences in the pretest among the groups, but there was a significant difference in the posttest among the groups. LSD post hoc test results showed that central fatigue increased depth perception error in comparison with peripheral fatigue and no intervention (control group). But no significant differences were observed in depth perception error between peripheral fatigue and control groups. Paired t test results showed an increase in depth perception errors resulted from both types of fatigue and the lack of change in the control group. Overall, it can be concluded that central fatigue had an effective role in increasing students' depth perception error when compared to peripheral error. Therefore, coaches are advised to adopt appropriate conditions that reduce central fatigue.

Abstract Mental fatigue is a psychological state caused by prolonged periods of cognitive activity and decreases physical performance, but its impact on motor learning has been less studied. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of self-controlled feedback on learning to produce low, medium and maximum forces in mental fatigue condition. Participants consisted of 28 eligible volunteers who were randomly divided into two groups of self-controlled feedback and yoked. Electrical dynamometer, Stroop test, multidimensional fatigue inventory and the VAS scale were used in this study. Both groups firstly performed the Stroop test for one hour under mental fatigue protocol and they entered the acquisition phase of force production task after making sure that mental fatigue was created. Immediate and delayed retention tests were performed 10 minutes and 48 hours after the end of the acquisition phase respectively. Findings showed that in mental fatigue condition, there was no significant difference between self-controlled feedback and yoked groups in acquisition and retention of different forces. Also, the error produced in learning the medium force was less than those in learning the low and maximum forces in the mental fatigue condition, that is to say the learning of the medium force was significantly better than the low force. The results showed that mental fatigue reduces the effectiveness of self-controlled feedback and destroys learning to produce low and maximum forces more than medium force.