Can cognitive activities during breaks in repetitive manual work accelerate recovery from fatigue? A controlled experiment.

ABSTRACT: Neurophysiologic theory and some empirical evidence suggest that fatigue caused by physical work may be more effectively recovered during "diverting" periods of cognitive activity than during passive rest; a phenomenon of great interest in working life. We investigated the extent to which development and recovery of fatigue during repeated bouts of an occupationally relevant reaching task was influenced by the difficulty of a cognitive activity between these bouts. Eighteen male volunteers performed three experimental sessions, consisting of six 7-min bouts of reaching alternating with 3 minutes of a memory test differing in difficulty between sessions. Throughout each session, recordings were made of upper trapezius muscle activity using electromyography (EMG), heart rate and heart rate v

SUBMITTER: Mathiassen SE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4222971 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature