Multimodal Dynamics of Mental Fatigue and Their Selective Modulation by Acute Exercise: Effects on Memory and Creativity

Abstract

Mental fatigue (MF) arises from sustained cognitive load and produces a multisystem signature spanning subjective experience, task performance, cortical oscillations, and oculomotor dynamics. It may alter higher-order cognitive functions essential to everyday life, underscoring the need for preventive strategies. Although moderate aerobic exercise (EXO) facilitates recovery from MF, its influence on the onset and expression of MF when performed beforehand remains unexplored. This study provided a multimodal characterization of MF, assessed its impact on associative memory and divergent creativity, and examined whether prior EXO modulated these outcomes. Twenty-nine participants completed either 15 min of EXO or rest before a 35-min MF-inducing Time Load Dual Back task. Subjective fatigue and effort, performance, EEG activity, and eye-blink rate were continuously recorded; associative memory and divergent creativity were assessed pre-intervention and post-MF. Both groups showed progressive increases in MF and effort from 7 min onward, stable performance, and a rise in parieto-central alpha power at 18 min. The EXO group exhibited higher frontal-medial theta power and stable blink rates, whereas blink rate in REST increased at 21 min. EXO did not prevent subjective MF nor influence behavioral stability but modulated neurophysiological markers potentially related to compensatory control and dopaminergic regulation. Associative memory remained preserved in both groups, whereas creative flexibility increased in REST but not EXO, suggesting MF-related disinhibition in the former and preserved inhibitory control in the latter. These findings refine temporal and multimodal profile of MF and highlight the need to optimize exercise parameters and task demands to enhance preventive efficacy and guide interventions.