Effects of pellet stove on recovery from mental fatigue

Abstract

Background: Exposure to a warm environment has been reported to be effective for recovery from mental fatigue. However, there have been no reports examining the effects of a pellet stove on recovery from mental fatigue. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a pellet stove on recovery from mental fatigue.

Material/methods: In this placebo-controlled, crossover experiment, 16 healthy volunteers were randomized into the pellet stove and control groups. After a 30-min fatigue-inducing mental task session, participants moved to a recovery room with (pellet stove condition) or without (control condition) a pellet stove to see the image of a pellet stove for 30 min.

Results: After the recovery session, the participants exposed to the pellet stove condition showed lower total error counts of a cognitive test, higher levels of subjective healing, comfort, and warmth, and sympathetic nerve activity and higher parasympathetic nerve activity as compared with the control condition.

Conclusions: These results provide evidence that improved cognitive function, subjective mental states, and balance of the autonomic nervous activities result from using a pellet stove during the recovery session. Hence, the pellet stove was effective for the recovery from mental fatigue.

Figure 1

Changes of total trial counts (A) and total error counts (B) of advanced trail making tests after the recovery session. Data are presented as mean and SD. * p<0.05, significant difference between control and pellet stove conditions (paired t-test).

Figure 2

Changes of low-frequency component (LF)/high-frequency component (HF) ratio (A) and %HF (B) after the recovery session. Data are presented as mean ±SD. ** p<0.01, * p<0.05, significant difference between control and pellet stove conditions (paired t-test).