Do prolonged social media use or cognitive tasks impair neuroelectric and visuomotor performance in taekwondo athletes? A randomized and controlled trial

Objectives: We aimed to compare whether: (1) social media use (SMU) would induce a similar state of mental fatigue compared to the Modified Stroop task (MST); (2) the SMU and the MST would affect neuroelectric responses; and (3) sport-specific visuomotor performance in the taekwondo (TKD) athletes was impaired by mental fatigue.

Methods: Fifteen TKD athletes underwent a 60-min Modified Stroop Task (MST), engaged in SMU, or watched a documentary (CON) in a randomized order. Pre and post-each conditions they responded to a Stroop task (ST) while the event-related potentials (ERP) were measured. The Visual Analogue Scale for mental tiredness (VAS-MT) was used to measure subjective feelings of mental fatigue Then, the athletes completed TKD-specific visuomotor tests.

Results: The VAS-MT response increases progressively in the MST condition (p < 0.001). The response time of ST was slower in the MST than in SMU (p = 0.04). The accuracy dropped in MST comparing pre- and post-manipulation (p < 0.001) and was lower than post-CON (p = 0.005). The peak amplitude for N200 ERP was higher post-than pre for all conditions (p < 0.001) on the Fz channel. N200 amplitude was higher on CON than MST on post-manipulation (p = 0.02). The amplitude increased significantly from pre-to post in the CON condition (p = 0.009) on the Cz channel. There was no difference in visuomotor performance among conditions (all ps > 0.05).

Conclusion: Prolonged performance of the MST, but not SMU, induces a state of mental fatigue. Neuroelectric and cognitive responses were impaired by mental fatigue induced by MST, but the visuomotor performance remained unaffected by any condition.