Shoulder Muscular Fatigue From Static Posture Concurrently Reduces Cognitive Attentional Resources. (June 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Stephenson, Mitchell L.; Ostrander, Alec G.; Norasi, Hamid; Dorneich, Michael C.
• Is Part Of: Human factors. Volume 62:Number 4(2020)
• Page Start: 589
• Page End: 602
• Publication Date: 2020-06
• Subjects: peripheral fatigue -- cognitive performance -- electromyography -- laparoscopy; Human engineering -- Periodicals; 620.82
• DOI: 10.1177/0018720819852509
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0018-7208

Abstract

Objective: The goal of this work is to determine whether muscular fatigue concurrently reduces cognitive attentional resources in technical tasks for healthy adults. Background: Muscular fatigue is common in the workplace but often dissociated with cognitive performance. A corpus of literature demonstrates a link between muscular fatigue and cognitive function, but few investigations demonstrate that the instigation of the former degrades the latter in a way that may affect technical task completion. For example, laparoscopic surgery increases muscular fatigue, which may risk attentional capacity reduction and undermine surgical outcomes. Method: A total of 26 healthy participants completed a dual-task cognitive assessment of attentional resources while concurrently statically fatiguing their shoulder musculature until volitional failure, in a similar loading pattern observed in laparoscopic procedures. Continuous and discrete monitoring task performance was recorded to reflect attentional resources. Results: Electromyography of the anterior deltoid and descending trapezius, as well as self-assessment surveys indicated fatigue occurrence; continuous tracking error, tracking velocity, and response time significantly increased with muscular fatigue. Conclusion: Muscular fatigue concurrently degrades cognitive attentional resources. Application: Complex tasks that rely on muscular and cognitive performance should consider interventions to reduce muscular fatigue to also preserve cognitive performance.