Throughout the decades of research on this topic, different strategies have been used to evaluate the adaptation to these external and internal loads ( Lazarus, 1990 Amann, 2011). Along the last decades, distinctions are often made between physical and mental fatigue role, indicating clear methodologies for the analysis of physiological fatigue, but with clear limitations in the study of central fatigue, because this is measurable only indirectly, which emphasizes the importance of developing new central fatigue analysis procedures ( Bittner et al., 2000). The external loads exerted on the individual are added to their skills and coping strategies, resulting in a level of tolerance and adaptation to each situation ( Folkman and Lazarus, 1988). In this sense, the consideration of the study of humans’s response to external and internal loads ( Wijesuriya et al., 2007 Wilson et al., 2007) has become one of the most important research topics. The analysis of psychophysiological fatigue is considered very important in different contexts ( Lohani et al., 2019). The usefulness of this protocol and the measures used to analyze the stress response capacity of the study subjects are discussed. Significant differences were found in all of the measures indicated. Before and after this test, the following parameters were measured: activation and central fatigue (Critical Flicker Fusion Threshold (CFF Critical flicker fusion ascending and Critical flicker fusion descending DC potential), and perceived exertion (Central Rating of Perceived Exertion and Peripheral Rating of Perceived Exertion). The variable “number of hours of physical activity per week” and the variable “level of behavioral response to stress” were controlled. The sample used was sports science students (N = 22), with a mean age of 22.82 (M age = 22.82 SD years = 3.67 M PhysicalActivity hours/Week = 7.77 SD hours/ week = 3.32) A quasi-experimental design was used in which the response of each participant to the DT test was evaluated.
The aim of this research is focused on analyzing the alteration of the psychophysiological and cognitive response to an objective computerized stress test (Determination Test - DT-, Vienna test System ®), when the behavioral response is controlled.
- 3Sport of Studies Center, Rey Juan Carlos University, Madrid, Spain.
-
2Didactic and Behavioral Analysis in Sport Research Group, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Extremadura, Cáceres, Spain.1Department of Physical Education, Sport and Human Movement, Autonomous University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain.Ricardo de la Vega 1, Ruth Jiménez-Castuera 2 and Marta Leyton-Román 3*