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Cited by 44Thermoregulation and physiological responsesEffects of Environmental Stressors on LivestockCardiovascular and exercise physiology

Effect of Passive Hyperthermia on Working Memory Resources during Simple and Complex Cognitive Tasks

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Gaoua, Nadia, Herrera, Christopher P., Périard, Julien D., El Massioui, Farid, Racinais, Sebastien·2018·Frontiers in Psychology
DOI 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02290PMC PMC5769221
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Abstract

The aim of this study was to verify the hypothesis that hyperthermia represents a cognitive load limiting available resources for executing concurrent cognitive tasks. Electroencephalographic activity (EEG: alpha and theta power) was obtained in 10 hyperthermic participants in HOT (50°C, 50% RH) conditions and in a normothermic state in CON (25°C, 50% RH) conditions in counterbalanced order. In each trial, EEG was measured over the frontal lobe prior to task engagement in each condition (PRE) and during simple (OTS-4) and complex (OTS-6) cognitive tasks. Core (39.5 ± 0.5 vs. 36.9 ± 0.2ºC) and mean skin (39.06 ± 0.3 vs. 31.6 ± 0.6ºC) temperatures were significantly higher in HOT than CON (P<0.005). Theta power significantly increased with task demand (p=0.017, η2=0.36) and was significantly higher in HOT than CON (p=0.041, η2=0.39). The difference between HOT and CON was large (η2=0.40) and significant (p=0.036) PRE, large (η2=0.20) but not significant (p=0.17) during OTS-4, and disappeared during OTS-6 (p=0.87, η2=0.00). Those changes in theta power suggest that hyperthermia may act as an additional cognitive load. However, this load disappeared during OTS-6 together with an impaired performance, suggesting a potential saturation of the available resources.

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  • Sample size was determined a priori to detect significant change based upon findings on cognitive performance changes in a previous study involving healthy participants exposed to passive heat in a hot environmental chamber (50 °C, 50 % relative humidity) as compared to normothermic control in temperate (25 °C, 50 % relative humidity) condition.

    “Sample size was determined a priori to detect significant change based upon the findings on cognitive performance changes in a previous study involving healthy participants exposed to passive heat in a hot environmental chamber (50 °C, 50 % relative humidity) as compared to normothermic control in temperate (25 °C, 50 % relative humidity) condition.37”

    From Influence of habitual physical activity on cognitive performance of healthy young adults after passive heat exposure (2026) · cites this paper as [37]

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Authors
Gaoua, N., Herrera, C. P., Périard, J. D., El Massioui, F., & Racinais, S.
Affiliations
  • London South Bank University (GB)
  • Sul Ross State University (US)
  • University of Canberra (AU)
Corresponding author
Gaoua, Nadia
ORCID
Venue
Frontiers in Psychology
Publisher
Frontiers Media SA
Published
2018-01-11
Volume
8
Pages
2290-2290
ISSN
1664-1078 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02290
PMC
PMC5769221
OpenAlex
W2782956477
Cited by
44
References
4
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 3
FWCI
3.16
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Frontiers in Psychology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Research Open (London South Bank University) (acceptedVersion)
  • Research Open (London South Bank University) (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Thermoregulation and physiological responses
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Animal Science and Zoology › Effects of Environmental Stressors on Livestock
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Complementary and alternative medicine › Cardiovascular and exercise physiology
Keywords
working memory, cognitive load, theta power, alpha power, frontal EEG, core body temperature, skin temperature, cognitive performance, resource saturation

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