Does mental exertion alter maximal muscle activation?
Fiche publication
Date publication
janvier 2014
Journal
Frontiers in human neuroscience
Auteurs
Membres identifiés du Cancéropôle Est :
Pr LEPERS Romuald, Pr PAPAXANTHIS Charalambos
Tous les auteurs :
Rozand V, Pageaux B, Marcora SM, Papaxanthis C, Lepers R
Lien Pubmed
Résumé
Mental exertion is known to impair endurance performance, but its effects on neuromuscular function remain unclear. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that mental exertion reduces torque and muscle activation during intermittent maximal voluntary contractions of the knee extensors. Ten subjects performed in a randomized order three separate mental exertion conditions lasting 27 min each: (i) high mental exertion (incongruent Stroop task), (ii) moderate mental exertion (congruent Stroop task), (iii) low mental exertion (watching a movie). In each condition, mental exertion was combined with 10 intermittent maximal voluntary contractions of the knee extensor muscles (one maximal voluntary contraction every 3 min). Neuromuscular function was assessed using electrical nerve stimulation. Maximal voluntary torque, maximal muscle activation and other neuromuscular parameters were similar across mental exertion conditions and did not change over time. These findings suggest that mental exertion does not affect neuromuscular function during intermittent maximal voluntary contractions of the knee extensors.
Référence
Front Hum Neurosci. 2014 ;8:755