Despite the predominance of research on physical performance in the heat, many activities require high cognitive functioning for optimal performance (i.e. decision making) and/or health purposes (i.e. injury risk). Prolonged periods of demanding cognitive activity or exercise-induced fatigue will incur altered cognitive functioning. The addition of hot environmental conditions will exacerbate poor cognitive functioning and negatively affect performance outcomes. The present paper attempts to extract consistent themes from the heat-cognition literature to explore cognitive performance as a function of the level of heat stress encountered. More specifically, experimental studies investigating cognitive performance in conditions of hyperthermia, often via the completion of computerised tasks (i.e. cognitive tests), are used to better understand the relationship between endogenous thermal load and cognitive performance. The existence of an inverted U-shaped relationship between hyperthermia development and cognitive performance is suggested, and highlights core temperatures of ~38.5 °C as the potential 'threshold' for hyperthermia-induced negative cognitive performance. From this perspective, interventions to slow or blunt thermal loads and protect both task- and hyperthermia-related changes in task performances (e.g. cooling strategies) could be used to great benefit and potentially preserve cognitive performance during heat strain.

No abstract

HA-H can quickly induce functional overreaching in nonacclimatized endurance athletes. As it was associated with a weak subsequent performance supercompensation, coaches and athletes should pay particular attention to training monitoring during a final preparation in the heat and reduce training intensity when early signs of functional overreaching are identified.

Highlights d Training overload in endurance sport induces cognitive control fatigue d Training-induced fatigue is associated with reduced prefrontal cortex activity d Training-induced fatigue is associated with enhanced choice impulsivity d Excessive physical training and intellectual work induce similar cognitive fatigue

No abstract

To determine if pre-cooling (PC) following heat-acclimatization (HA) can further improve self-paced endurance performance in the heat, 13 male triathletes performed two 20-km cycling time-trials (TT) at 35 °C, 50% relative humidity, before and after an 8-day training camp, each time with (PC) or without (control) ice vest PC. Pacing strategies, physiological and perceptual responses were assessed during each TT. PC and HA induced moderate (+10 ± 18 W; effect size [ES] 4.4 ± 4.6%) and very large (+28 ± 19 W; ES 11.7 ± 4.1%) increases in power output (PO), respectively. The overall PC effect became unclear after HA (+4 ± 14 W; ES 1.4 ± 3.0%). However, pacing analysis revealed that PC remained transiently beneficial post-HA, i.e., during the first half of the TT. Both HA and PC pre-HA were characterized by an enhanced PO without increased cardio-thermoregulatory or perceptual disturbances, while post-HA PC only improved thermal comfort. PC improved 20-km TT performance in unacclimatized athletes, but an 8-day HA period attenuated the magnitude of this effect. The respective converging physiological responses to HA and PC may explain the blunting of PC effectiveness. However, perceptual benefits from PC can still account for the small alterations to pacing noted post-HA.

Altered perceptions of heat during heat familiarization, rather than physiological acclimatization per se, may mediate initial changes in pacing and TT performance in the heat. These results highlight the need for athletes without time for sufficient heat acclimatization to familiarize themselves with hot conditions to reduce the uncertainty from behavior-based outcomes that may impede performance.

Study objective: Long COVID patients can experience high levels of impairment in their cognitive function and mental health. Using a parallel randomized control trial, we evaluated the effectiveness of a neuro-meditation program to reduce cognitive impairment in patients with long COVID. Methods: A total of 34 patients with long COVID were randomized to an intervention group (G-Int; n = 17) or a control group (G-Con; n = 17) and 15 healthy participants were constitutive of a normative group (G-Nor). The intervention consisted of ten 30-min sessions of Rebalance® over a period of five weeks. Each session included sound therapy and coach-guided meditation associated with light stimulations (i.e., chromotherapy). Primary outcomes were performance on five computerized cognitive tasks (choice response time, pattern comparison, Simon, pursuit rotor task, and Corsi block-tapping task), mental and physical fatigue (Chalder fatigue scale), perceived stress (perceived stress scale) and mood (profiles of mood states). Secondary outcomes were anxiety and depressive symptoms (hospital anxiety and depression scale), muscular pain, joint pain, and headaches using visual analog scales (VAS) as well as sleep quality (Spiegel sleep questionnaire). Assessments were conducted at baseline and at 1–2 and 7–8 days of follow-up. Results: Compared to healthy subjects, long COVID patients showed significant differences at baseline on all the self-report questionnaires, and a Rebalance® program improved all the subjective reports, as well as cognitive performances, especially on reaction time-based tasks. In particular, only the G-Int group revealed shortened reaction times in the choice reaction time (RTbaseline = 593 ± 121 ms vs. RTpost2 = 521 ± 86 ms, p < 0.001), Simon (RTbaseline = 539 ± 123 ms vs. RTpost2 = 494 ± 134 ms, p < 0.01), and pattern comparison tasks (RTbaseline = 1244 ± 315 ms vs. RTpost2 = 1079 ± 213 ms, p < 0.001). Conclusions) Initial evidence suggests that neuro-meditation reduces cognitive impairment and improves physical and mental fatigue, muscle and joint pain, symptoms of depression and anxiety, mood disturbances as well as sleep quality. The Rebalance® program hence constitutes a promising non-pharmacological intervention for the treatment of long-term psychological/cognitive outcomes of COVID-19.