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RESEARCH PRODUCT

La fatigue mentale : marqueurs électrophysiologiques et stratégies de compensation

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Mental fatigue is a common phenomenon in modern society, causing an alteration in both cognitive and physical performances. It can lead to an increased risk of accidents, a drop in productivity, and certain disorders such as depression. The objective of this thesis work was to study this phenomenon of mental fatigue by investigating more specifically its electrophysiological markers, and to find compensatory strategies to limit and/or avoid its deleterious effects.The first study identified brain activity modulations during a prolonged modified Stroop task. An increase in theta and alpha waves, as well as a decrease in N100 and P300 amplitude reflecting a decrease in attention were observed. The second study showed that the increase in the perception of effort during physical endurance exercise in the presence of mental fatigue was linked to an increase in the activity of the motor and premotor areas (during actual and imagined contractions). In a third study, we highlighted that the effects of mental fatigue were persistent over time. Performance during an arm-pointing task was increasingly impaired after the mentally fatiguing task, despite a recovery effect on the level of perceived mental fatigue. Finally, the fourth study showed that the use of compensatory strategies such as listening to pleasant music or practicing a physical activity for 15 min were effective in countering the effects of mental fatigue and maintaining the level of motor performance. This work showed that mental fatigue leads to changes in brain activity during a cognitively demanding task, and during subsequent physical exercise. Moreover, the phenomenon of mental fatigue seems to persist over time and increasingly impact performance. However, compensatory strategies such as listening to music or practicing a physical activity seem to be effective in counteracting its deleterious effects.