Regular short-duration breaks do not prevent mental fatigue and decline in cognitive efficiency in healthy young men during an office-like simulated mental working day: An EEG study

Abstract

Employees in Europe work on average 7.2 h per day. Prolonged periods of uninterrupted cognitive activity during the working day can cause changes in motivation, mental fatigue, and deterioration in cognitive function. In this exploratory study, we aimed to determine the effectiveness of taking 10-min breaks for light exercise every 50 min in preventing these negative effects during a simulated 7-h office-like computer work. Eighteen healthy young adult men (aged 26 ± 3 years) who did not work in an office participated. The effects of 7 h of office-like work with 10-min breaks every 50 min on central nervous system activity, cognitive function, mood, and motivation were investigated and compared with those measured on a control day without work. Our study found that engaging in 7 h of mental work similar to that found in an office environment, with 10-min breaks every 50 min, can negatively impact cognitive efficiency, suppress brain neural network activity, and cause mental fatigue. These effects do not fully recover after a 4.5-h rest. Additionally, taking short breaks during the workday does not prevent mental exhaustion or impairments in cognitive function. These findings should be considered when discussing strategies to prevent mental exhaustion caused by mental work.

Keywords: Event-related potential; Mental fatigue; Oddball task.