mental fatigue Archives - Amazing Health Advances

Vitamin B: Effective Cure for Many Intestinal Patients with Chronic Fatigue

The AHA! Team — Fri, 13 Dec 2024 06:35:56 +0000

Aarhus University via EurekAlert! – A new study reveals the link between gut bacteria and the effectiveness of vitamin B1 treatment for chronic disease in patients with intestinal inflammation. Fatigue is a common and often debilitating companion for people with inflammatory bowel conditions. Now, a new Danish study provides insight into why vitamin B1 – also known as thiamine – helps some patients regain their energy, while others do not experience the same effect. The study shows, among other things, that patients’ response to vitamin B1 depends on gut bacteria, with researchers focusing particularly on a specific “good bug” that seems to play a crucial role. “We know that about half of the fatigued patients benefit from treatment with vitamin B1, but we haven’t been able to find anything that distinguishes those who had an effect from those who did not. Now we know that it’s especially the bacterium Faecalibacterium prausnitzii (FP) that is the key,” says Professor and Consultant Christian Lodberg Hvas, who is the lead author of the study. Surprising findings FP is a bacterium that many studies have identified as having beneficial properties or at least being frequently found in people with a healthy gut. The researchers were surprised to find that the presence of a single key bacterium determines whether patients with chronic fatigue experience a good effect from thiamine treatment. “We thought we were looking for a ‘fatigue microbiome,’ a composition of gut bacteria that is particularly seen in patients with chronic fatigue. But we didn’t find that. Instead, we found that the microbiome of the fatigued largely resembles the microbiome of those who are not fatigued,” explains Christian Lodberg Hvas. Still a mystery The study involved 40 patients with inflammatory bowel disease and chronic fatigue. Each patient received both vitamin B1 and a placebo in two periods of four weeks with a break in between. This allowed the researchers to see if the vitamin treatment had an effect on fatigue. At the same time, the researchers examined the patients’ gut bacteria to see if there was a correlation between specific bacteria and the effect of the treatment. Although the researchers found a clear connection between FP and the patients’ response to the treatment, it remains a mystery why this is the case. “The bacterium is largely present in people with good health and only present in low numbers in people with chronic diseases. We don’t know if it’s just a marker for health or if it’s part of the reason why healthy people are indeed healthy,” explains Christian Lodberg Hvas. “But the more studies that point to a beneficial effect of FP, the more it suggests that the bacterium is involved as a cause of health and not just as a bystander,” he adds. A cure for many with unexplained fatigue For some patients, fatigue can be explained by a lack of iron, vitamin D, or low thyroid function. These are all conditions that are easy to treat. But a large group of patients with inflammatory bowel disease remains with unexplained fatigue. “We really want to help them, and although we don’t have an explanation, we now have a cure – for those who have many FP in their gut,” says Christian Lodberg Hvas. “Therefore, we now recommend high-dose vitamin B1 treatment to all our patients where we don’t find any obvious explanation for chronic fatigue. We know that it only works for half, but it’s still a good chance, and a month’s treatment is cheap,” he adds. The clear recommendation also comes because the treatment has proven to be completely free of side effects. “However, one must accept that thiamine smells and tastes peculiar – so your hands, urine, and sweat will smell like vitamin pills with the very high dose you’re taking,” says Christian Lodberg Hvas. About the research: Study type: Exploratory analyses of biological material from a randomized clinical trial Collaborators: DTU National Food Institute External funding: Novo Nordisk Foundation Link to scientific article: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gastha.2024.08.012 DOI 10.1016/j.gastha.2024.08.012 To read the original article click here.

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How To Manage Parent Guilt, Burn-Out & Fatigue

The AHA! Team — Fri, 07 Jun 2024 08:45:29 +0000

Dr. Caroline Leaf – In this podcast (episode #499) and blog, I talk to Hettie, a concerned mother, about balancing work and play time with her children, especially as a homeschooling mom. This is part of a series I am doing on questions you submitted for my new book on children’s mental health. This was Hettie’s question: “I’m part of an avid homeschooling community. Homeschooling moms like me tend to be “always on; always teaching.” It can lead to schooling burnout, and it does! How can we give ourselves and our children a better balance between working our brain, resting our brain, and letting our brain play?” First, it is important to understand that, as parents and guardians, we deserve to rest! This is especially the case if we are homeschooling our children as — in this case, we are not just parents but educators as well. Work-life balance is not just important for our children. We cannot give our best and be there for our children if we are overwhelmed, burnt out and running on empty. This is something I have spoken of on my podcast before, which I call the “oxygen mask principle”. As parents, we need to help ourselves before we can effectively help our children, which includes scheduling in periods of self-care so that our minds, brains and bodies have time to rest and recharge. We need to recognize that although the mind is infinite, the brain is finite, and it needs rest to function well. We can only give our best when we are rested, which is why it is so important that we learn how to be okay with doing nothing as parents. (This takes some practice, especially if you constantly feel the need to do something!) It is important to remember that our children pick up on our emotions and behaviors. If we are stressed out, overwhelmed or upset because we have not given ourselves enough time to rest and reboot, then this can affect our children’s mental health and performance. On the other hand, when we take the time to invest in our self-care as parents, and we explain to our children why this is important, we teach them an invaluable life-skill. This, in turn, will help them learn how to build and maintain their own resilience as both children and adults. Finding the right work-play-rest balance is not just something we should teach our children. It is something we need to model in our own lives. As mentioned, children observe us and pick up on our feelings and behaviors. This means that we do and say, or what we don’t do or say, can affect their wellbeing as well. So, taking care of ourselves and our mental health is not just a “nice” thing to do. It is imperative if we want our children to grow up understanding that life is about balance and that their health is important. For more on parenting and children’s mental health, listen to my podcast (episode #499). Podcast Highlights 3:36 The challenges of homeschooling & balancing work and rest 4:35, 6:47 The importance of self-care as a parent 7:45 How burnout affects the mind-brain-body connection 13:34 How our mood & emotions can affect our children 18:00 Tips to maintain a good work-life balance as a parent 21:30 The importance of teaching our children about mental health & self-care from youth This podcast and blog are for educational purposes only and are not intended as medical advice. We always encourage each person to make the decision that seems best for their situation with the guidance of a medical professional. To read the original article click here.

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Why Thinking Hard Makes You Tired

AHA Publisher — Fri, 19 Aug 2022 07:00:59 +0000

Cell Press via Newswise – It’s no surprise that hard physical labor wears you out, but what about hard mental labor? Sitting around thinking hard for hours makes one feel worn out, too. Now, researchers have new evidence to explain why this is, and, based on their findings, the reason you feel mentally exhausted (as opposed to drowsy) from intense thinking isn’t all in your head. Their studies, reported in Current Biology on August 11, show that when intense cognitive work is prolonged for several hours, it causes potentially toxic byproducts to build up in the part of the brain known as the prefrontal cortex. This in turn alters your control over decisions, so you shift toward low-cost actions requiring no effort or waiting as cognitive fatigue sets in, the researchers explain. “Influential theories suggested that fatigue is a sort of illusion cooked up by the brain to make us stop whatever we are doing and turn to a more gratifying activity,” says Mathias Pessiglione of Pitié-Salpêtrière University in Paris, France. “But our findings show that cognitive work results in a true functional alteration—accumulation of noxious substances—so fatigue would indeed be a signal that makes us stop working but for a different purpose: to preserve the integrity of brain functioning.” Pessiglione and colleagues including first author of the study Antonius Wiehler wanted to understand what mental fatigue really is. While machines can compute continuously, the brain can’t. They wanted to find out why. They suspected the reason had to do with the need to recycle potentially toxic substances that arise from neural activity. To look for evidence of this, they used magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) to monitor brain chemistry over the course of a workday. They looked at two groups of people: those who needed to think hard and those who had relatively easier cognitive tasks. They saw signs of fatigue, including reduced pupil dilation, only in the group doing hard work. Those in that group also showed in their choices a shift toward options proposing rewards at short delay with little effort. Critically, they also had higher levels of glutamate in synapses of the brain’s prefrontal cortex. Together with earlier evidence, the authors say it supports the notion that glutamate accumulation makes further activation of the prefrontal cortex more costly, such that cognitive control is more difficult after a mentally tough workday. So, is there some way around this limitation of our brain’s ability to think hard? “Not really, I’m afraid,” Pessiglione said. “I would employ good old recipes: rest and sleep! There is good evidence that glutamate is eliminated from synapses during sleep.” There may be other practical implications. For example, the researchers say, monitoring of prefrontal metabolites could help to detect severe mental fatigue. Such an ability may help adjust work agendas to avoid burnout. He also advises people to avoid making important decisions when they’re tired. In future studies, they hope to learn why the prefrontal cortex seems especially susceptible to glutamate accumulation and fatigue. They’re also curious to learn whether the same markers of fatigue in the brain may predict recovery from health conditions, such as depression or cancer. To read the original article click here.

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3 Ways to Boost Your Mental Energy When You Are Tired & Overwhelmed

AHA Publisher — Wed, 23 Mar 2022 07:00:58 +0000

Dr. Caroline Leaf – In this podcast (episode #364) and blog, I talk about three tips to boost your energy when you are tired and overwhelmed. Why do we get tired? Our nonconscious mind never stops. It’s always trying to make us aware of issues that are damaging our resilience and causing neurophysiological disruptions in our brain and body. However, the conscious mind and brain do get tired because they work on energy, like our phones. This is kind of like when we have a whole lot of apps open, the brightness is on full and we are constantly using our phone—very soon the battery will die. And, like you need to recharge your phone, you also need to recharge your brain and conscious mind. It’s best we do this in a regular way, by incorporating periods of rest into our daily schedule to keep the brain charged all day long. This will also help us better know when to switch off at the end of the day. If we go for too long without rest, we may think we are okay, but the next day we won’t feel as rested as we should, and may notice our creativity or ability to think clearly is off because we didn’t recharge regularly the day before and pushed the conscious mind and brain to the limit. As we go through our day, everything we experience is processed by our conscious mind, nonconscious mind and brain. During this time, a lot of neuroplasticity (brain change) is occurring—we will have built about 8000+ new memories in thought tree clusters into our brain. This activity makes our brain, conscious mind and body pretty tired because they have limited energy, but the nonconscious mind never gets tired because it operates at a different level. The conscious mind and brain will get tired even if we can have a lot of good stuff happening in our lives. This is often why, even when things are going well, we can feel a loss of drive and creativity, and maybe even a little depressed. This is completely normal! The key to managing this activity is to become very self-regulated so that you don’t burn out. You can start practicing this by: Pausing every 30-45 minutes and going into what I call a “thinker moment” for a few minutes, when you switch off to the external and onto the internal and just let your mind wander and do a bit of daydreaming. (I discuss this in greater detail in my book Cleaning Up the Mental Mess.) Just stare out the window or sit outside and close your eyes—just let your mind wander. The great news is that the more you do this the more you will sense when you need to do it! Taking a longer break after every three hours of work. Eat something, grab a coffee or cup of tea, go for a walk, do some push-ups or yoga, play with your pets, chat with a loved one—whatever works for you! Limiting the intensiveness and length of your work. This could mean purposefully going to bed a little earlier, working out a little longer or shortening your work day. Be as deliberate about switching off as you were about switching on. Schedule in periods of “off time”, such as taking a hot bubble bath or shower or watching your favorite TV show. Remember, you can just “get away with it”. You can’t escape the way your mind and brain works—there are no tricks to “hack” the system. Overworking yourself will result in poor quality sleep and thinking the next day, which can have a ripple effect in your life and on your health. I personally find that I am more edgy, get more frustrated, and become more reactive when I am tired versus when I have more energy, patience and peace. To read the original article click here.

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The Sneaky Signs of Mental Exhaustion + A Neurocycle to Heal Mental Fatigue

AHA Publisher — Tue, 03 Aug 2021 07:00:52 +0000

Dr. Caroline Leaf – Have you ever experienced that feeling of utter mental exhaustion, where your brain feels so tired but your just mind won’t stop? And, even though you have slept for the recommended number of hours, you just feel like you are dragging yourself around through the day? You may have even heard of the terms like “pandemic fatigue” or “election fatigue”—really, the word fatigue can be added to any major event and I am sure at least one person will understand what that feels like. I personally have experienced this, and so many people have asked me about how to manage this, which is exactly what I am going to talk about in this podcast (episode #304) and blog: how to manage mental fatigue and exhaustion. According to experts like Dr. Suzy Russell, mental fatigue happens when we experience prolonged periods of demanding, conscious cognitive activity. This kind of activity will be different for everyone because of what is uniquely happening in their environment, but it’s more pervasive than just having an “off day”. Mental fatigue is a normal response to an accumulation of challenging events and circumstances that affect the mind, brain and body. The mind has three parts. The conscious mind is awake when we are awake and gets tired. The nonconscious mind works 24/7 and never tires. The subconscious mind, which is the bridge between the conscious and nonconscious, also never tires. The brain and body have limited energy and need to be regenerated, which is why we need to sleep. When we sleep, the conscious mind, brain and body are regenerated in preparation for the next day. The nonconscious mind never stops, but the conscious mind does because it gets tired, as does the physical brain and body. We have a limited amount of energy in the day, which means we need to be wise in how we use it. So, for example, if you ruminate on something you can’t change, get stuck in a “would have, could have, should have” mindset, or try to understand why someone did something to you when you really can’t see into their heads, you will drain your battery dry very quickly, which is where mental fatigue can set in and make us feel flat, depressed, anxious and upset. Mental effort and mental fatigue are closely related, especially when we look at the neural or brain response. Each time we pay attention to something, we process it with our minds and build it as memories onto a thought tree in the brain. This requires sustained attention, and emotions are activated during the process, which can be quite tiring. As a result, we may be having a great creative run at work and then suddenly feel mentally and physically tired. This is quite normal and needs to be recognized as a signal that we need to recharge. This can be a few seconds to a couple of minutes of what I call a “thinker moment”, where we just close our eyes, daydream, and let our thoughts wander. If we don’t regularly take these little breaks, we can upset the balance in the brain and start draining its energy, similar to when we have too many apps open on our phones and the battery starts going fast. Add to this the many uncertainties and challenges of life (such as the pandemic and family issues), and we can experience a cumulative effect, which will elevate our levels of mental fatigue. Managing the demands on our cognitive abilities and resources is therefore an essential skill; we cannot just keep going and going and going without a break. I have experienced this in my own life. I love what I do and can spend hours in a creative mode, researching, writing and doing back-to-back interviews. These activities demand a high level of cognitive activity, which I also need when I swing back into family mode after work, sorting issues, doing lots of talking, and then rushing off to exercise and take care of my own body and mind. After all this, I tend to feel a bit down, kind of like my brain is sore and sad. I really feel my perspective shift to the negative, and my creativity and clarity tend to drop. I even start getting a bit irritable, while my body even feels sick and my nose blocks up. I can describe these with such clarity because I found this happening a lot, and I have realized that these are warning signals telling me that I need to reevaluate my thinking and behavior. Instead of priding myself of being an “energizer bunny” all the time, I need to get better at recognizing and managing my mental fatigue and giving myself permission to rest. Mental fatigue can be insidious. It tends to creep up when you least expect it, and, wham!, you realize that you are in a pretty bad place. It is no surprise that mental fatigue shows up in brain scanswith reduced blood flow in the brain, which, over time, can reduce our decision-making ability, increase our impulsivity, and reduce our cognitive flexibility. When we are mentally tired, we also observe an increase in theta and delta activity in the brain, which has been associated with decreased intellectual performance and suppressed toxic memories. Mental fatigue can also result in high levels of anxiety, depression and even outbursts of aggression, all of which are warning signals that we need to pay attention to what is going on in our minds and bodies. To this end, I recommend doing a Neurocycle to help you recognize and manage mental fatigue, which is the 5-step mind-management system I have developed over the past 38 years and is based on my research and practice. (I discuss this in detail in my book Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess, my app Neurocycle and in my recent clinical trials.) The 5 steps are: 1. Gather Awareness Gather awareness of the warning signals of your mental fatigue: What are your emotional warning signals? Frustration? Depression? Anxiety? Irritability? What are the physical warning signals in your brain and body? Does your brain feel tired, but your mind doesn’t want to stop? Are you feeling flu-like symptoms? Do you feel congested? Are you battling with GI issues like bloating? What are your behavioral warning signals? Are you experiencing bursts of aggression? Are you more irritable than normal? Are you battling to concentrate for long periods of time? Do you keep feeling like you need to sleep, but don’t ever seem to feel rested? flu 2. Reflect Now, go through each of these warning signals and ask yourself “why?”. Dig deep and be honest with yourself: Why these emotional warning signals? For example, ask yourself questions like “Why am I frustrated? I’m frustrated because…” Why these physical warning signals in your brain and body? An example could be: “I know that my mind doesn’t want to stop even when I am at a workout class; I keep running through the problem over and over again and then I feel sick…” Why these behavioral warning signals? You can ask yourself questions like, “Do I get irritable about little things and perseverate on them?”. What are your mindset/perspective/attitude warning signals? Do you, for example, say things like “everything is awful” and “I don’t like what I’m doing!”? Why? 3. Write Write this all down to help organize your thinking and get more insight into what is going on in your life. 4. Recheck Take each of the warning signals you have gathered, reflected on, and written down above, and see them for what they are: signals that you are in mental fatigue! Then, work out an “antidote” (new thought pattern/behavior) for each one. Here are some examples: Emotional warning signal = frustration; the antidote = I need to change my work routine so I have time to do my creative work uninterrupted. Physical warning signal = feeling congestion; the antidote = I need to relook at my rest times. How much mental rest am I having a day? How can I improve this? 5. Active reach Create a summary statement that combines your warning signals into an “all-systems-alert mental fatigue warning”, and set it to pop up every day on your reminders or write it on a card and leave on your desk so you can’t miss it! This will remind you to practice using the antidotes you came up with above. Mine for example says the following: “When I feel frustrated, fluey, irritable and am perseverating on something, then I know I am mentally fatigued and need to rest by doing something I love, like reading a novel…”. To read the original article click here. For more articles from Dr. Leaf click here.

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The Mental Fatigue You Feel Is Called ‘Cognitive Dulling’ and You Are Not Alone if You Are Experiencing It

AHA Publisher — Thu, 15 Apr 2021 07:00:01 +0000

University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston via Newswise – Someone asks you a simple question and you snap. Common tasks, like washing the dishes, feel impossible to accomplish. Constant virtual meetings on camera leave you feeling drained and make it difficult to concentrate on other duties. If you’ve experienced any of those scenarios, or simply a shift in emotional state and decline in performance, mental health experts at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) said you could be experiencing “cognitive dulling.” What Is Cognitive Dulling? Cognitive dulling is a form of mental fatigue that leads to difficulty concentrating, decreased productivity, and a decline in emotional and mental health, according to Jennifer Bahrman, PhD, assistant professor in the Louis A. Faillace, MD, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. She said it is the result of our bodies being in “survival mode” for the past year during the COVID-19 pandemic and enduring heightened stress levels, changes in routine and environment, and fear of the future. “March marked the one-year anniversary of stay-at-home orders across the country,” Bahrman said. “We thought the pandemic precautions would last for two weeks or even two months, but they’re still going on in various ways a whole year later. There’s been glimmers of hope with the vaccines and recent drops in case numbers, but many are still worried about the economy, whether we will see another COVID-19 wave with the new variants, and whether enough precautions are being taken. Many people are living in a constant state of fear wondering, ‘Am I going to become sick? Will I get someone else sick?’ People are adapting to new work and school environments while trying to emotionally process the huge amount of lives lost over the past year. It all takes a toll.” “Cognitive dulling is a combination of decision fatigue and Zoom fatigue, plus all of the other new things we’ve been experiencing during the pandemic,” said Vineeth John, MD, MBA, professor and vice chair for education in the Faillace Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. “It’s also the result of our regular experiences and daily routines constantly being altered. And dealing with constant isolation from the pandemic can prevent us from being present, productive, and creative.” Cognitive dulling can be caused by: Social isolation New routines Poor boundaries between work and home life Juggling having children at home while working Countless decisions about safety – for example, “Should I go to the store or order curbside groceries?” Video conference meetings – having to constantly focus on the computer screen and what you look like on-screen Heightened stress levels Worry about the future Emotionally processing loss of life What Does Cognitive Dulling Affect? Cognitive dulling can affect performance at work and at home. “If you are working from home, do you stop working at 5 p.m.? Many are working longer hours because they work through the time they would typically be commuting home. ‘Am I ready to end the day or could I be doing more?’ becomes another decision that needs to be made. If you are working additional hours, are you working at peak performance levels during that extra time? It can be difficult to focus for so long and many people feel guilty about not performing at a high level. There’s a sense of ‘I’m fortunate to have a job, so I need to do my best.’ And with our minds and bodies already going through so much, it can be difficult to manage it all,” Bahrman said. Mental fatigue can also leak into many other areas of life, including how we spend our free time. “Now we have to think twice about things we used to enjoy on the weekend or in our spare time. You have to question, ‘Am I going to feel comfortable playing tennis with a friend or getting takeout from a restaurant?’ We’re constantly in survivalist mode and that affects how we function across the board,” Bahrman said. What Can I Do to Combat Cognitive Dulling? Self-care, self-care, self-care: Bahrman noted that the term has almost become taboo, but self-care is something everyone needs to strive to do to give themselves a break. Options include practicing mindful meditation, meal-prepping so you can maintain a good diet, doing a hobby you enjoy, going on a vacation or staycation, taking a bath, playing with your kids or pets, going for a walk, or reading. Bahrman said just taking some time every day to not have to think can do wonders for your mental health. She noted the importance of encouraging self-care habits in children, too. Check in with yourself: Bahrman said it is critical to know your limits, and be kind to yourself when you reach them. “It’s okay to say no,” she said. “I talk about the importance of saying ‘no’ to my patients often. We don’t always need to agree to another meeting or opportunity – there will always be more meetings and opportunities. It is better to turn an opportunity down than to commit to it, but not be able to give it your all.” Manage stress in one area of your life: “Focusing on one area of your life, like work or a certain relationship, that you can control your stress in, can help you feel empowered,” Bahrman said. “It can give you a sense of normal in one area that you can build upon in other areas.” Take pressure off perfection: “Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good. With so much going on, just do your best and strive for good rather than perfect,” Bahrman said. Reduce the amount of decisions you have to make: For example, to make meal planning easier, prepare enough meals for the week over the weekend, Bahrman said. Other ideas include planning your outfits out in advance, simplifying your wardrobe so you don’t have so much to choose from, and helping your children pick their outfits in advance as well. Ask for help: Talking to a friend or loved one and seeking help from a professional can improve mental health significantly. “Everyone can benefit from therapy,” Bahrman said. If you or a loved one are feeling overwhelmed, there are resources available, including the Crisis Text Line. Simply text HOME to 741741 to reach a professional counselor. If you are experiencing a crisis, please contact the Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK. To make an appointment with a UT Physicians mental health specialist, call 888-4UT-DOCS. To read the original article click here.

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Music Intervention and Mindfulness Reduces the Effect of Mental Fatigue

AHA Publisher — Tue, 10 Mar 2020 07:00:09 +0000

University of Southern Denmark Faculty of Health Sciences via EurekAlert – A new study shows that an on-the-spot music-intervention (binaural beats) and 4 weeks of daily mindfulness training delivered through the HEADSPACE mindfulness app reduces the effect of mental fatigue. Mental fatigue is a psychobiological state caused by prolonged periods of demanding cognitive activity which results in slower reaction times and attention deficits. It affects the ability to focus and impacts the capacity to make optimal decisions during a given task. Mental fatigue is often responsible for accidents in traffic or the workplace and can lead to poor study efficiency. We know that mindfulness has been shown to have a positive effect on stress-coping and cognitive performance. There is also cumulating evidence suggesting that listening to binaural beats may increase sustained attention. Binaural beats is an auditory illusion which has been framed as a class of cognitive and neural entrainment (Kirk et al., 2019). Even though there are different tones of different frequency (165Hz in the left and 179 Hz in the right) presented in each ear the participant will hear one tone, which is the amalgamated difference between the two tones (beta range of 14 Hz). In a new study, Johanne L. Axelsen (SDU), Ulrich Kirk (SDU) and Walter Staiano (University of Valencia) tests the efficacy of binaural beats compared to mindfulness as a cognitive recovery strategy to counteract the negative effect of mental fatigue on sustained attention. The study also tests whether the mindfulness interventions will show an effect for the on-the-spot novice group or for the experienced mindfulness group, who have practiced mindfulness for 4 weeks in an online-based mindfulness program through the app Headspace. There were five phases of the study, in the initial phase the participants’ mood were assessed (BRUMS) and they completed a sustained attention task to measure their mind wandering (SART). The second phase consisted of the mental fatigue treatment for 90 minutes (AX-CPT). Immediately afterwards, the participants’ mood was assessed again, and the two on-the-spot interventions followed: either listening to a guided mindfulness meditation track for 12 min. or an audio track (with binaural beats) for 12 min. The control group was asked to relax for 12 min. After this the effects of the interventions were tested using the sustained attention task. The results showed that there was indeed an effect of on-the-spot binaural beats on sustained attention while in a state of experimentally induced mental fatigue. Interestingly, the experienced mindfulness group performed significantly better than the rest of the groups on the sustained attention task already before the mental fatigue was induced. Furthermore, the group’s performance was better than that of the novice mindfulness group and the control group after the mental fatigue was induced. The results, and results from previous work by Kirk et al. (2019), indicate that binaural beats may help suppress mind-wandering and sharpening of attentional focus, which in turn reduces the negative effect of mental fatigue. The individual might feel more relaxed and less affected by mental fatigue after listening to the music. The same goes for the experienced mindfulness group, their mindfulness training already showed on the first task where they performed better than the rest of the groups. This could indicate that practicing mindfulness helps you focus on the task at hand and is effective in offering strategies to handling stressful situations and economizing of mental energy. Therefore, the study demonstrates that just 12 minutes of binaural beats and 4 weeks of mindfulness training were effective recovery strategies to counteract the negative effects of mental fatigue on sustained attention. The researchers are currently investigating whether listening to binaural beats for a longer period or practicing mindfulness will improve stressed individuals’ heart rate variability (HRV) and if this has an effect on performance in specific cognitive tasks. To read the original article click here.

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