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Review
. 2025 Oct;55(10):2387-2413.
doi: 10.1007/s40279-025-02286-3. Epub 2025 Sep 5.

Current Practices for Mental Fatigue Quantification and Induction in Movement Science: Introducing the SPeCIFY Guidelines

Emilie Schampheleer #  1 , Jelle Habay #  1   2   3 , Matthias Proost  1 , Y Laurisa Arenales Arauz  1 , Suzanna Russell  4   5   6 , Manon Roose  1   7 , Chao Bian  1 , Romain Meeusen  1   8 , Kevin De Pauw  1   9 , Bart Roelands  10   11
Affiliations
Review

Current Practices for Mental Fatigue Quantification and Induction in Movement Science: Introducing the SPeCIFY Guidelines

Emilie Schampheleer et al. Sports Med. 2025 Oct.

Abstract

Mental fatigue (MF) is a complex phenomenon with significant implications for human performance, for which there are numerous studies investigating the effects of MF. Nevertheless, there is considerable variability in the approaches used to induce and quantify MF, making it hard to compare findings across studies and draw well-supported conclusions. This review addresses the methodological variability in the induction and quantification methods of MF in movement science in the following ways: on the one hand, by providing an overview of task design strategies to induce MF, emphasizing the importance of tailoring task duration, difficulty, and nature to individual participants and specific research contexts; on the other hand, by providing an overview of current methods used to quantify MF, including behavioural, subjective, and physiological measures, and highlighting the strengths and limitations of each. Finally, this review proposes a best-practice framework for MF research, incorporating multi-method approaches for the induction and quantification of MF and introducing the Settings, Protocol establishments, Confounders, Individuals, Framework, and Yield (SPeCIFY) reporting guidelines that aim at improving consistency and transparency in future MF studies.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Funding: Emilie Schampheleer is part of the COMET project DiMo-NEXT, which is funded by the Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology (BMK); the Federal Ministry for Labour and Economy (BMAW); and the provinces of Salzburg, Upper Austria, and Tyrol within the framework of Competence Centres for Excellent Technologies (COMET). COMET is processed by The Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG). Jelle Habay is a recipient of a fundamental aspirant fellowship funded by the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) (project no. 11J6323N). Manon Roose is a recipient of a doctoral grant funded by General Electric (GE) Healthcare. Yahaira Laurisa Arenales Arauz is a recipient of a doctoral grant funded by FWO_WEAVE (G095422N). Chao Bian is awardee of a China scholarship council (file no. 202208310018). Emilie Schampheleer, Kevin De Pauw, and Bart Roelands also acknowledge financial support from the European Union (HORIZON-CSA-101120150). Conflicts of interest: Emilie Schampheleer, Jelle Habay, Matthias Proost, Yahaira Laurisa Arenales Arauz, Suzanna Russell, Manon Roose, Chao Bian, Romain Meeusen, Kevin De Pauw, and Bart Roelands have no conflicts of interest of any type (i.e., financial, professional, or personal) relevant to the content of this review. Romain Meeusen is an Editorial Board member of Sports Medicine but was not involved in the selection of peer reviewers for this manuscript or any of the subsequent editorial decisions. Compliance with ethical standards: Emilie Schampheleer, Jelle Habay, Matthias Proost, Yahaira Laurisa Arenales Arauz, Suzanna Russell, Manon Roose, Chao Bian, Romain Meeusen, Kevin De Pauw, and Bart Roelands declare that the review complies with all ethical standards. Ethics approval: Not applicable. Consent to participate: Not applicable. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Code availability: Not applicable. Availability of data and material: All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article. Authorship contribution: J.H. and M.P. conceptualized the topic; E.S. performed the primary literature search, which was later updated by E.S., J.H. and M.P.; J.H., and Y.L.A.A. designed and finalized the figures; E.S. and S.R. constructed and finalized the tables; Y.L.A.A., M.P., and S.R. first proposed the SPeCIFY guidelines, which were later adapted by E.S., J.H., M.P., Y.L.A.A., S.R., M.R., C.B., R.M., K.D.P., and B.R. E.S. and J.H. wrote the first draft of the manuscript, which was later adapted by E.S., J.H., M.P., Y.L.A.A., S.R., M.R., C.B., R.M., K.D.P., and B.R. All authors read, revised, and approved the final manuscript.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The three task properties framework to aid researchers in designing tasks to induce mental fatigue (MF). The three components (i.e., duration, difficulty, and nature) are represented in a cycle as they all influence and inform one another. Within each component, important considerations are identified for change to optimize the cognitive load and the inducement of MF. The center of the cycle represents the context in which the task is created (e.g., specific research question, environment, or available materials), which should always be used as a basis to inform the specification of each component. The control task should also be considered within this framework. To design the optimal control task, the same components as the induction task need to be taken into account. Created with BioRender.com
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Schematic overview of the different domains that can be used to quantify MF, along with their benefits and drawbacks. Ideally, researchers should use an outcome of at least two domains to quantify MF as holistically as possible. Moreover, additional outcome measures should be included to the best of abilities, to control for external influences on primary outcomes. Created with BioRender.com. BRUMS, Brunel Mood Scale; EEG, electroencephalography; fNIRS, functional near infrared spectroscopy; HRV, heart rate variability; M-VAS, mental fatigue visual analogue scale; MF, mental fatigue
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The SPeCIFY (an acronym for Settings, Protocol establishments, Confounders, Individuals, Framework, and Yield) reporting guidelines to improve reporting standards for mental fatigue studies
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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