Abstract
Introduction
Mental fatigue is a psychobiological state caused by prolonged periods of demanding cognitive activity that has negative implications on many aspects in daily life. Caffeine and carbohydrate ingestion have been shown to be able to reduce these negative effects of mental fatigue. Intake of these substances might however be less desirable in some situations (e.g., restricted caloric intake, Ramadan). Rinsing caffeine or glucose within the mouth has already been shown to improve exercise performance. Therefore, we sought to evaluate the effect of frequent caffeine-maltodextrin (CAF-MALT) mouth rinsing on mental fatigue induced by a prolonged cognitive task.
Methods
Ten males (age 23 ± 2 years, physical activity 7.3 ± 4.3 h/week, low CAF users) performed two trials. Participants first completed a Flanker task (3 min), then performed a 90-min mentally fatiguing task (Stroop task), followed by another Flanker task. Before the start and after each 12.5% of the Stroop task (eight blocks), subjects received a CAF-MALT mouth rinse (MR: 0.3 g/25 ml CAF: 1.6g/25 ml MALT) or placebo (PLAC: 25 ml artificial saliva).
Results
Self-reported mental fatigue was lower in MR (p = 0.017) compared to PLAC. Normalized accuracy (accuracy first block = 100%) was higher in the last block of the Stroop in MR (p = 0.032) compared to PLAC. P2 amplitude in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) decreased over time only in PLAC (p = 0.017).
Conclusion
Frequent mouth rinsing during a prolonged and demanding cognitive task reduces mental fatigue compared to mouth rinsing with artificial saliva.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aeschbach D, Matthews JR, Postolache TT, Jackson MA, Giesen HA, Wehr TA (1997) Dynamics of the human EEG during prolonged wakefulness: evidence for frequency-specific circadian and homeostatic influences. Neurosci Lett 239(2-3):121–124. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0304-3940(97)00904-X
Beaven CM, Maulder P, Pooley A, Kilduff L, Cook C (2013) Effects of caffeine and carbohydrate mouth rinses on repeated sprint performance. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab 38(6):633–637. https://doi.org/10.1139/apnm-2012-0333
Bland JM, Altman DG (1995) Calculating correlation coefficients with repeated observations: part 1--correlation within subjects. BMJ 310(6977):446. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.310.6977.446
Boksem MA, Meijman TF, Lorist MM (2005) Effects of mental fatigue on attention: an ERP study Brain. Res Cogn Brain Res 25(1):107–116. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogbrainres.2005.04.011
Boksem MA, Tops M (2008) Mental fatigue: costs and benefits. Brain Res Rev 59(1):125–139. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainresrev.2008.07.001
Bower JE (2014) Cancer-related fatigue—mechanisms, risk factors, and treatments. Nat Rev Clin Oncol 11(10):597–609. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrclinonc.2014.127
Brownsberger J, Edwards A, Crowther R, Cottrell D (2013) Impact of mental fatigue on self-paced exercise. Int J Sports Med 34(12):1029–1036. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0033-1343402
Cajochen C, Brunner DP, Kräuchi K, Graw P, Wirz-Justice A (1995) Power density in theta/alpha frequencies of the waking EEG progressively increases during sustained wakefulness. Sleep 18(10):890–894. https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/18.10.890
Carter JM, Jeukendrup AE, Jones DA (2004) The effect of carbohydrate mouth rinse on 1-h cycle time trial performance. Med Sci Sports Exerc 36(12):2107–2111
Chambers ES, Bridge MW, Jones DA (2009) Carbohydrate sensing in the human mouth: effects on exercise performance and brain activity. J Physiol 587(8):1779–1794. https://doi.org/10.1113/jphysiol.2008.164285
Chaudhuri A, Behan PO (2004) Fatigue in neurological disorders. Lancet 363(9413):978–988. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(04)15794-2
Childs E (2014) Influence of energy drink ingredients on mood and cognitive performance. Nutr Rev 72 Suppl 1:48–59. https://doi.org/10.1111/nure.12148
Cook DB, O'Connor PJ, Lange G, Steffener J (2007) Functional neuroimaging correlates of mental fatigue induced by cognition among chronic fatigue syndrome patients and controls. NeuroImage 36(1):108–122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2007.02.033
de Araujo IE, Kringelbach ML, Rolls ET, McGlone F (2003) Human cortical responses to water in the mouth, and the effects of thirst. J Neurophysiol 90(3):1865–1876. https://doi.org/10.1152/jn.00297.2003
de Ataide e Silva T, Di Cavalcanti Alves de Souza ME, de Amorim JF, Stathis CG, Leandro CG, Lima-Silva AE (2013) Can carbohydrate mouth rinse improve performance during exercise? A systematic review Nutrients 6(1):1–10. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu6010001
De Pauw K, Roelands B, Knaepen K, Polfliet M, Stiens J, Meeusen R (2015) Effects of caffeine and maltodextrin mouth rinsing on P300, brain imaging, and cognitive performance. J Appl Physiol (1985) 118(6):776–782. https://doi.org/10.1152/japplphysiol.01050.2014
Desmond PA, Hancock PA (2001) Active and passive fatigue states. In: PA H, PA D (eds) Stress, workload and fatigue. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, pp 455–465
Doering TM, Fell JW, Leveritt MD, Desbrow B, Shing CM (2014) The effect of a caffeinated mouth-rinse on endurance cycling time-trial performance. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab 24(1):90–97. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijsnem.2013-0103
Folstein JR, Van Petten C (2008) Influence of cognitive control and mismatch on the N2 component of the ERP: a review. Psychophysiology 45:152–170. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8986.2007.00602.x
Frank GK, Oberndorfer TA, Simmons AN, Paulus MP, Fudge JL, Yang TT, Kaye WH (2008) Sucrose activates human taste pathways differently from artificial sweetener. NeuroImage 39(4):1559–1569. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2007.10.061
Gajewski PD, Falkenstein M (2015) Long-term habitual physical activity is associated with lower distractibility in a Stroop interference task in aging: behavioral and ERP evidence. Brain Cogn 98:87–101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandc.2015.06.004
Gajewski PD, Stoerig P, Falkenstein M (2008) ERP—correlates of response selection in a response conflict paradigm. Brain Res 1189:127–134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainres.2007.10.076
Gergelyfi M, Jacob B, Olivier E, Zenon A (2015) Dissociation between mental fatigue and motivational state during prolonged mental activity. Front Behav Neurosci 9:176. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2015.00176
Glade MJ (2010) Caffeine—not just a stimulant. Nutrition 26(10):932–938. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nut.2010.08.004
Guay F, Vallerand RJ, Blanchard C (2000) On the assessment of situational intrinsic and extrinsic motivation: the Situational Motivation Scale (SIMS). Motiv Emotion 24:175–213. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005614228250
Haase L, Cerf-Ducastel B, Murphy C (2009) Cortical activation in response to pure taste stimuli during the physiological states of hunger and satiety. NeuroImage 44(3):1008–1021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2008.09.044
Hagger MS, Chatzisarantis NL (2013) The sweet taste of success: the presence of glucose in the oral cavity moderates the depletion of self-control resources. Personal Soc Psychol Bull 39(1):28–42. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167212459912
Hart SG, Staveland LE (1988) Development of NASA-TLX (task load index): results of empirical and theoretical research Human. Ment Workload 1:139–183
Jasper HH (1958) Report of the committee on methods of clinical examination in electroencephalography. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol 10:370–371
Job RFS, Dalziel J (2001) Defining fatigue as a condition of the organism and distinguishing it from habituation, adaptation and boredom. In: P.A.H.P.A. Desmond E (ed) stress, workload and fatigue. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, pp 466–475
Kumar N, Wheaton LA, Snow TK, Millard-Stafford M (2016) Carbohydrate ingestion but not mouth rinse maintains sustained attention when fasted. Physiol Behav 153:33–39. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2015.10.023
Lal SK, Craig A (2002) Driver fatigue: electroencephalography and psychological assessment. Psychophysiology 39(3):313–321. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0048577201393095
Lieberman HR (2001) The effects of ginseng, ephedrine, and caffeine on cognitive performance, mood and energy. Nutr Rev 59(4):91–102
Lorist MM (2008) Impact of top-down control during mental fatigue. Brain Res 1232:113–123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainres.2008.07.053
Lorist MM, Tops M (2003) Caffeine, fatigue, and cognition. Brain Cogn 53:82–94
MacLeod CM, MacDonald PA (2000) Interdimensional interference in the Stroop effect: uncovering the cognitive and neural anatomy of attention. Trends Cogn Sci 4(10):383–391. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1364-6613(00)01530-8
Malik VS, Popkin BM, Bray GA, Després JP, FB H (2010) Sugar-sweetened beverages, obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and cardiovascular disease risk. Circulation 121(11):1356–1364. https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.109.876185
Marcora SM, Staiano W, Manning V (2009) Mental fatigue impairs physical performance in humans. J Appl Physiol (1985) 106(3):857–864. https://doi.org/10.1152/japplphysiol.91324.2008
McCormick F, Kadzielski J, Landrigan CP, Evans B, Herndon JH, Rubash HE (2012) Surgeon fatigue: a prospective analysis of the incidence, risk, and intervals of predicted fatigue-related impairment in residents. Arch Surg 147(5):430–435. https://doi.org/10.1001/archsurg.2012.84
McLellan TM, Caldwell JA, Lieberman HR (2016) A review of caffeine’s effects on cognitive, physical and occupational performance. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 71:294–312. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.09.001
Mostofsky SH, Simmonds DJ (2008) Response inhibition and response selection: two sides of the same coin. J Cogn Neurosci 20(5):751–761. https://doi.org/10.1162/jocn.2008.20500
O'Doherty J et al (2000) Sensory-specific satiety-related olfactory activation of the human orbitofrontal cortex. Neuroreport 11(4):893–897. https://doi.org/10.1097/00001756-200003200-00046
Pageaux B, Marcora SM, Rozand V, Lepers R (2015) Mental fatigue induced by prolonged self-regulation does not exacerbate central fatigue during subsequent whole-body endurance exercise. Front Hum Neurosci 9:67. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2015.00067
Phipps-Nelson J, Redman JR, Rajaratnam SM (2011) Temporal profile of prolonged, night-time driving performance: breaks from driving temporarily reduce time-on-task fatigue but not sleepiness. J Sleep Res 20(3):404–415. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2869.2010.00900.x
Polich J (2007) Updating P300: an integrative theory of P3a and P3b. Clin Neurophysiol 118:2128–2148. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinph.2007.04.019
Rollo I, Cole M, Miller R, Williams C (2010) Influence of mouth rinsing a carbohydrate solution on 1-h running performance. Med Sci Sports Exerc 42(4):798–804. https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0b013e3181bac6e4
Rollo I, Williams C (2011) Effect of mouth-rinsing carbohydrate solutions on endurance performance. Sports Med 41(6):449–461. https://doi.org/10.2165/11588730-000000000-00000
Shargel L, Yu A (2016) Applied biopharmaceutics & pharmacokinetics. 7th edn. Mc Graw Hill Education
Smith MR, Coutts AJ, Merlini M, Deprez D, Lenoir M, Marcora SM (2016) Mental fatigue impairs soccer-specific physical and technical performance. Med Sci Sports Exerc 48(2):267–276. https://doi.org/10.1249/mss.0000000000000762
Tops M, Boksem MA (2010) Absorbed in the task: personality measures predict engagement during task performance as tracked by error negativity and asymmetrical frontal activity. Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci 10(4):441–453. https://doi.org/10.3758/CABN.10.4.441
Trejo LJ, Kubitz K, Rosipal R, Kochavi RL, Montgomery LD (2015) EEG-based estimation and classification of mental fatigue. Psychology 6(05):572–589. https://doi.org/10.4236/psych.2015.65055
Turner CE, Byblow WD, Stinear CM, Gant N (2014) Carbohydrate in the mouth enhances activation of brain circuitry involved in motor performance and sensory perception. Appetite 80:212–219. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2014.05.020
Van Cutsem J, Marcora S, De Pauw K, Bailey S, Meeusen R, Roelands B (2017) The effects of mental fatigue on physical performance: a systematic review. Sports Med 47(8):1569–1588. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-016-0672-0
van der Linden D, Massar SA, Schellekens AF, Ellenbroek BA, Verkes RJ (2006) Disrupted sensorimotor gating due to mental fatigue: preliminary evidence. Int J Psychophysiol 62(1):168–174. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2006.04.001
Wald F, Mellenbergh G (1990) De verkorte versie van de Nederlandse vertaling van de Profile of Mood States (POMS) [The shortened version of the Dutch translation of the Profile of Mood States (POMS)] Nederlands Tijdschrift voor de Psychologie 45:86-90
Wascher E, Rasch B, Sänger J, Hoffmann S, Schneider D, Rinkenauer G, Heuer H, Gutberlet I (2014) Frontal theta activity reflects distinct aspects of mental fatigue. Biol Psychol 96:57–65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2013.11.010
Weeks SR, McAuliffe CL, Durussel D, Pasquina PF (2010) Physiological and psychological fatigue in extreme conditions: the military example. PM R 2(5):438–441. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmrj.2010.03.023
Wehrwein EA, Carter JR (2016) The mind matters: psychology as an overlooked variable within physiology studies. Physiology (Bethesda) 31(2):74–75. https://doi.org/10.1152/physiol.00059.2015
Wolk BJ, Ganetsky M, Babu KM (2012) Toxicity of energy drinks. Curr Opin Pediatr 24(2):243–251. https://doi.org/10.1097/MOP.0b013e3283506827
Zhao C, Zhao M, Liu J, Zheng C (2012) Electroencephalogram and electrocardiograph assessment of mental fatigue in a driving simulator. Accid Anal Prev 45:83–90. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2011.11.019
Acknowledgments
BR is a postdoctoral fellow of the Fund for Scientific Research Flanders (FWO).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Each subject gave written informed consent prior to the study. Experimental protocol and procedures were approved by the Research Council of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Van Cutsem, J., De Pauw, K., Marcora, S. et al. A caffeine-maltodextrin mouth rinse counters mental fatigue. Psychopharmacology 235, 947–958 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-017-4809-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-017-4809-0