Preprint Probing sustained attention and fatigue across the lifespan, 2023, Hanzal et al

Abstract

Trait fatigues reflects tiredness that persists throughout a prolonged period, whereas state fatigue is defined to be short term after “intense and/or prolonged effort”. We investigated the impact of prolonged sustained attention (using the SART task) on both trait and state fatigue levels in the general population.

A JsPsych online version of the SART task was undertaken by 115 participants, stratified across the whole adult lifespan. While pre-task trait fatigue was a strong indicator of the initial state fatigue levels, undergoing the task itself induced an increase in reported subjective state fatigue, as well as reduced energy. Consistent with this finding, greater subjective state fatigue levels were associated with reduced accuracy. In addition, age was the best predictor of inter-participant accuracy (the older the participants, the greater the accuracy), and learning (i.e., task duration reducing reaction times). Moreover, a ceiling effect occurred where participants with higher trait fatigue did not experience greater state fatigue changes relative to those with low trait scores.

In summary, we found improved accuracy in older adults, as well as a tight coupling between state fatigue and SART performance decline (in an online environment). The findings warrant further investigation into fatigue as a dynamic, task-dependent state and into SART task performance as an objective measure and inducer of fatigue.

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.09.27.559839v1?ct=

 

"Introduction

Fatigue is one of the most common symptoms experienced by people with a range of clinical conditions, for example, post-stroke fatigue affects up to 50% of stroke survivors1 . Fatigue has also been estimated to affect up to 17% of the general population2 . In the clinical populations, definitions of fatigue vary and are often specific for the3 respective populations in which they occur. Post-stroke fatigue for instance has been described as a subjective lack of physical or mental energy (or both) that is perceived by the individual to interfere with usual or desired activities1 with the closely related “chronic fatigue” described as a negative whole-body sensation, not proportional to recent activity3 . There is similar variability in defining fatigue within the general population. Researchers either extend the definition from a particular syndrome, typically chronic fatigue syndrome4 or frame fatigue more generally within experimental cognitive research, e.g., as a lapse in sustained attention5 . One frequently adapted model describes fatigue as a change from baseline state as a response to either physically6,7 or mentally engaging tasks6,8,9,10,11,12,13. One major dichotomy between the various types of fatigue is the duration of symptoms: trait fatigue reflects tiredness that persists throughout a prolonged period of time, whereas state fatigue represents tiredness which occurs after “intense and/or prolonged effort”14 ."