Bart Roelands

Bart Roelands
Vrije Universiteit Brussel | VUB · Human Physiology and Sports Physiotherapy Research Group

PhD

About

193
Publications
122,186
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7,675
Citations
Additional affiliations
October 2003 - present
Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Position
  • Professor (Assistant)

Publications

Publications (193)
Article
Full-text available
Introduction Football is a physically demanding sport that requires effective recovery strategies to maintain performance level and prevent injuries. This study investigated if a single 1-h hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) session affects recovery and performance after a football match in elite youth players. Methods Twenty elite youth football pl...
Article
Full-text available
Background Aging results in changes in resting state functional connectivity within key networks associated with cognition. Cardiovascular function, physical activity, sleep, and body composition may influence these age-related changes in the brain. Better understanding these associations may help clarify mechanisms related to brain aging and guide...
Article
Full-text available
Objective. Brain–computer interface (BCI) control systems monitor neural activity to detect the user’s intentions, enabling device control through mental imagery. Despite their potential, decoding neural activity in real-world conditions poses significant challenges, making BCIs currently impractical compared to traditional interaction methods. Thi...
Preprint
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Background: Mental fatigue (MF) in sports has developed from well-controlled laboratory-based studies to applied studies with greater ecological validity. Ongoing developments in the representativeness of MF inducement approaches, including the broad range of sport-specific motor tasks to simulated real-life scenarios, have shown methodological var...
Article
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Ultrarunning is gaining in popularity but no information is available on the physiological and psychological responses during backyard ultrarunning events. The aim of this study was to determine changes in cognitive function, markers of physiological resilience, and running performance during a backyard‐running event. Twelve male ultrarunners (38 ±...
Article
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Introduction Mental fatigue (MF) significantly affects both cognitive and physical performance. However, the precise mechanisms, particularly concerning neurotransmission, require further investigation. An implication of the role of dopamine (DA) and noradrenaline (NA) is stated, but empirical evidence for this theory still needs to be provided. To...
Article
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This study aimed to analyze the chronic effect of high cognitive effort immediately before resistance exercise sessions on neuromuscular performance in untrained male adults. We used a mixed experimental design, with the group as between‐participants factor and time as within‐participants factor. Thirty‐four participants were randomly assigned to t...
Article
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This study evaluates an innovative control approach to assistive robotics by integrating brain–computer interface (BCI) technology and eye tracking into a shared control system for a mobile augmented reality user interface. Aimed at enhancing the autonomy of individuals with physical disabilities, particularly those with impaired motor function due...
Article
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The literature describing the effects of mental fatigue (MF) has grown tremendously. This is accompanied by identification of a host of performance-determining parameters affected by MF. MF results from prolonged cognitive effort and predominantly affects physical, technical, tactical, and perceptual–cognitive dimensions of sport, while physiologic...
Article
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Brain-computer interfaces (BCI) enable users to control devices through their brain activity. Motor imagery (MI), the neural activity resulting from an individual imagining performing a movement, is a common control paradigm. This study introduces a user-centric evaluation protocol for assessing the performance and user experience of an MI-based BC...
Article
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Mental fatigue (MF) and hypoxia impair cognitive performance through changes in brain hemodynamics. We want to elucidate the role of prefrontal cortex (PFC)-oxygenation in MF. Twelve participants (22.9 ± 3.5 years) completed four experimental trials, (1) MF in (normobaric) hypoxia (MF_HYP) (3.800 m; 13.5%O2), (2) MF in normoxia (MF_NOR) (98 m; 21.0...
Preprint
Full-text available
Background Aging results in changes in resting state functional connectivity within key networks associated with cognition. Cardiovascular function, physical activity, sleep, and body composition may influence these age-related changes in the brain. Better understanding these associations may help clarify mechanisms related to brain aging and guide...
Article
This study explored how mental fatigue affects brain activity during a low-intensity bike task utilising a continuous wavelet transformation in electroencephalography (EEG) analysis. The aim was to examine changes in brain activity potentially linked to central motor commands and to investigate their relationship with ratings of perceived exertion...
Article
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While the interest and professionalization of padel around the world, and the importance of mental fatigue in sport science literature are both on the rise, not much is known about how mental fatigue impacts padel‐specific performance. Forty‐eight male elite youth players (18 ± 2 y) participated in this randomized counterbalanced crossover study. T...
Conference Paper
Background In sports, lateral ankle sprains (LAS) are frequent, with 40% leading to chronic ankle instability (CAI) with ongoing issues. Past studies have delved into neural and neurocognitive adaptations, but we need more insights to implement in injury prevention. We employed the reactive balance test (RBT) to assess neurocognition and balance....
Article
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Mental fatigue (MF) arises during prolonged demanding cognitive activity and results in acute feelings of tiredness and a decreased physical and/or cognitive performance capacity. An often-overlooked population that is significantly at risk for the development of MF are university students. The current study investigated the impact of prolonged in-...
Article
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Introduction The Reactive Balance Test (RBT) could be a valuable addition to research on chronic ankle instability (CAI) and clinical practice, but before it can be used in clinical practice it needs to be reliable. It has already been proven reliable in healthy recreational athletes, but not yet in patients with CAI who have shown persistent defic...
Article
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Occupational back-support exoskeletons, categorized as active or passive, hold promise for mitigating work-related musculoskeletal disorders. However, their impact on combined physical and cognitive aspects of industrial work performance remains inadequately understood, especially regarding potential differences between exoskeleton categories. A ra...
Article
Purpose Fitness, physical activity, body composition, and sleep have all been proposed to explain differences in brain health. We hypothesized that an exercise intervention would result in improved fitness and body composition and would be associated with improved structural brain health. Methods In a randomized controlled trial we studied 485 old...
Article
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The search to comprehend the fundamental physiological factors that contribute to the exceptional endurance performance of elite human athletes is a long-standing endeavor within the field of sports science research [...]
Article
Purpose Several mechanisms have been proposed to explain how mental fatigue degrades sport performance. In terms of endurance performance, a role for an increased perceived exertion has been demonstrated. Utilizing electroencephalography (EEG) and, more specifically, the movement-related cortical potential (MRCP), the present study explored the neu...
Preprint
A large body of evidence has shown that placebo effects of dietary supplements can improve sport performance. However, very few studies are conducted outside of the laboratory. This is important given that placebo effects may be more likely to be induced during highly controlled, artificial environments in the presence of a researcher. In the past...
Article
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COVID-19 can induce neurological sequelae, negatively affecting the quality of life. Unravelling this illness's impact on structural brain connectivity, white-matter microstructure (WMM), and cognitive performance may help elucidate its implications. This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate differences in these factors between former hospita...
Article
Background: Throughout official soccer matches, the presence of cheer by the crowd could be considered a critical auditive distraction that could further impair the cognitive interference control system, multiple object tracking (MOT) skill, heart rate variability (HRV), and increase mental fatigue. As the resource is not immediately replenished,...
Article
Mental fatigue is a prominent problem in today’s world, negatively influencing both cognitive as well as physical performance. Recent evidence points toward a large range of interindividual differences in these effects, and a contribution of individual features that determine these differences. However, these features have not been extensively inve...
Article
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Due to differences in actuation and design, active and passive industrial back exoskeletons could influence functional performance, i.e., work performance, perceived task difficulty, and discomfort, differently. Therefore, this study investigated and compared the impact of the active CrayX (7 kg) and passive Paexo Back (4.5 kg) on functional perfor...
Article
This study aimed to assess, for the first time, how self-reported sleep, mental toughness, and reaction time are impacted by a professional padel tournament. In addition, we evaluated whether sex, age, and/or ranking play a role in this possible effect of a tournament on these variables. Twenty-three professional players (15 men, M age = 24 ± 6 yea...
Conference Paper
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Background: Incremental exercise tests identify the dynamic relationship between external load and integrated physiological systems. Although a combination of the rate of perceived exertion (RPE, using the Borg's 6-20 scale) and physiological parameters (e.g., blood lactate, BLa) contributes to load quantification during incremental running tests,...
Article
Purpose: Mental fatigue causes decreases in aspects of athletes' performance. Elite coaches commonly undertake cognitively demanding tasks and are seemingly at similar risk of subsequent performance impairment. However, elite sport coaches' experiences of mental fatigue, alongside other markers of psychobiological stress, have yet to be quantified...
Article
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Background Lateral ankle sprains are the most common ankle injuries in sports and have the highest recurrence rates. Almost half of the patients experiencing lateral ankle sprains develop chronic ankle instability. Patients with chronic ankle instability experience persistent ankle dysfunctions and detrimental long-term sequelae. Changes at the bra...
Article
Mental fatigue (MF) is likely to occur in the industrial working population. However, the link between MF and industrial work performance has not been investigated, nor how this interacts with a passive lower back exoskeleton used during industrial work. Therefore, to elucidate its potential effect(s), this study investigated the accuracy of work p...
Article
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Abstract Background The negative effect of mental fatigue (MF) on physical performance has recently been questioned. One reason behind this could lie in the interindividual differences in MF-susceptibility and the individual features influencing them. However, the range of individual differences in mental fatigue-susceptibility is not known, and th...
Article
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Background Despite the potential of occupational passive shoulder exoskeletons (PSEs) to relieve overhead work, limited insights in overhead work precision performance impedes large-scale adoption in industry. Objective To investigate the effect of PSE support on the reduction in task performance caused by physical fatigue. Methods This experimen...
Article
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Introduction Changes in brain structure and function occur with aging. However, there is substantial heterogeneity both in terms of when these changes begin, and the rate at which they progress. Understanding the mechanisms and/or behaviors underlying this heterogeneity may allow us to act to target and slow negative changes associated with aging....
Article
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The purpose of the study was to verify the criterion-validity (concurrent) of an existing and reliable, submaximal wheelchair Rugby (WCR) field test by examining the correlations of selected measures of physical performance between the field test and real games. Therefore, ten WCR athletes were observed during two WCR real games and during completi...
Article
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Introduction Mental fatigue (MF) is a psychobiological state that impairs cognitive as well as physical performance in different settings. Recently, numerous studies have sought ways to counteract these negative effects of MF. An overview of the explored countermeasures for MF is, however, lacking. Objectives The objective of this review is to pro...
Article
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The impaired vaso-and sudomotor functions limit sweat capacity in individuals with a spinal cord injury (SCI) and might increase the risk for heat-related illness and decreased performance, especially in hot conditions (HOT). This study investigated the differences in fluid balance and thermal responses between wheelchair basketball (WCB) games in...
Article
Introduction: The discussion on the mechanism(s) underlying mental fatigue is still ongoing. We want to reconfirm a performance-impairing effect of executing a lengthy cognitive task on the subsequent task, and determine how this effect is subtended by neurophysiological variations and subjective experience. Methods: Twenty participants (12 fema...
Article
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The aim was to investigate the test-retest reliability of performance and physiological variables of a submaximal wheelchair rugby field-test. Eight trained wheelchair rugby athletes with a spinal cord injury (age: median 40, interquartile range 6.9y; body mass: median 77.7, interquartile range 23.9kg) performed two times a submaximal field-test, w...
Article
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This study aimed to analyse the reproducibility of mean power output during 20-min cycling time-trials, in a remote home-based setting, using the virtual-reality cycling software, Zwift. Forty-four cyclists (11 women, 33 men; 37 ± 8 years old, 180 ± 8 cm, 80.1 ± 13.2 kg) performed 3 x 20-min time-trials on Zwift, using their own setup. Intra-class...
Article
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This methodology paper describes the design of a holistic and multidisciplinary human performance program within the Belgian Special Forces Group, the Tier 1 Special Operations unit of the Belgian Defense. Performance management approaches in the military draw heavily on sports science. The key component of the program design described here is its...
Article
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This study compared performance parameters of two wheelchair basketball games under hot (30.3 ◦C, 52% relative humidity) and temperate (21.6 ◦C, 30% relative humidity) environmental conditions and described the characteristics of wheelchair basketball. Eight wheelchair basketball players from two teams were monitored during two games using an indoo...
Article
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Mental fatigue (MF) is a psychobiological state negatively impacting both cognitive and physical performance. Although recent research implies that some table tennis (TT) performance outcomes are impaired by MF, open skill sports such as TT require a more detailed overview of MF-related performance decrements. Moreover, research into MF and sport-s...
Conference Paper
Background A lot of controversy exists about how fatigue affects injury risk. Within the fatigue spectrum, mental fatigue impairs visuomotor skills, reaction time and decision-making. Recently, adaptability has been put forward as an important driver in understanding injury occurrence and injury prevention. It is hypothesised that mental fatigue de...
Conference Paper
Background Athletes indicate that mental fatigue (MF) interferes with maximal performance. MF has also been hypothesized to play an important role in injury occurrence. Clinically applied studies show that MF affects brain activity and decreases endurance, skill and decision-making performance. Nevertheless, no clear insights exist on how MF might...
Conference Paper
Background Acute fatigue is hypothesized to alter injury risk profiles by affecting intrinsic risk factors (i.e. postural control, hamstring strength). However, no systematic overview exists that merges the insights of prospective lower extremity injury risk profiling with the effect of acute fatigue on functional test performance. Objective The o...
Article
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Introduction: A myriad of factors underlie pacing-/exhaustion-decisions that are made during whole-body endurance performance. The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is a brain region that is crucial for decision-making, planning, and attention. PFC oxygenation seems to be a mediating factor of performance decisions during endurance performance. Nowadays, the...
Article
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It is currently unknown whether mental fatigue occurs throughout a WPT competition and whether consecutive matches affect how mentally fatiguing a match is perceived to be. The objective was to quantify the effects of successive professional matches on mental fatigue. A total of 14 professional players (9 males, Mage = 25, 5 females, Mage = 21) par...
Article
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Mental Fatigue (MF) has been associated with reduced physical performance but the mechanisms underlying this result are unclear. A reduction in excitability of the corticomotor system is a way mental fatigue could negatively impact physical performance. Carbohydrate (CHO) mouth rinse (MR) has been shown to increase corticomotor excitability. Purpo...
Article
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Background Mental fatigue (MF) is a psychobiological state that impairs endurance performance in healthy athletes. Recently, multiple studies indicated that MF could also impair sport-specific psychomotor performance (SSPP). Nevertheless, a systematic overview detailing the effects of MF on SSPP is currently lacking.Objective The objective of this...
Article
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A correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-021-01478-x
Article
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Background: In individuals with a spinal cord injury thermoregulatory mechanisms are fully or partially interrupted. This could lead to exercise-induced hyperthermia in temperate conditions which can be even more distinct in hot conditions. Hyperthermia has been suggested to impair physiological mechanisms in athletes, which could negatively influe...
Conference Paper
INTRODUCTION: Pacing is crucial for optimal performance in ultra-endurance events (1). This study investigated the impact of sex, category and athletes’ performance capacity on pacing and performance during the World 24-hour Mountain Bike Championships. METHODS: Data from 837 men and 157 women in 8 editions of the race (2012-2019) were analysed. At...
Article
Purpose While mental fatigue (MF) increases the probability of losing balance, the underlying neural mechanisms remain to be studied. Balance is commonly represented by technical outcomes difficult to translate to clinical practice. Therefore, the aims of this study were to assess how MF affects clinician‐friendly balance tests and if MF interacts...
Article
Full-text available
Background Acute fatigue is hypothesized to alter lower extremity injury risk profiles by affecting intrinsic risk factors (i.e. single leg postural control, hamstring strength). However, no systematic overview exists that merges the insights into prospective lower extremity injury risk profiling with the effect of acute fatigue on functional test...
Article
New findings: What is the topic of this review? It provides an overview of the recent papers linking brain neurotransmission with exercise-induced and/or mental fatigue. What advances does it highlight? The noradrenergic neurotransmitter system hastens central fatigue during prolonged exercise, a finding that coincides with a faster rate of increa...
Preprint
Full-text available
BACKGROUND Performing daily activities is challenging for individuals with a transfemoral amputation. Technological advancements in prosthetic prototypes aim at improving functional independence. A state-of-the-art active device, the CYBERLEGs-gamma (CLs-ɣ) prosthesis, consisting of powered ankle and knee joints, has been designed and constructed....
Preprint
Full-text available
The authors have withdrawn this preprint due to author disagreement.
Article
Purpose: Mental fatigue impairs psychomotor skill performance by affecting visuomotor reaction time, accuracy and decision-making. Recently, neurocognitive functional performance tests (FPT) have been developed that integrate these outcomes. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of mental fatigue on traditional and neurocognitive FPTs in...
Article
INTRODUCTION Evaluating the efficacy of a lower-limb prosthetic device (LLPD) is a crucial step in the iterative process of redesigning and product development of new generation prostheses. To date, no standardized experimental methodology for the evaluation of LLPDs is available which complicates the comparison of results. OBJECTIVE This systemati...
Article
Full-text available
Placebo and nocebo effects are a factor in sports performance. However, the majority of published studies in sport science are descriptive and speculative regarding mechanisms. It is therefore not unreasonable for the sceptic to argue that placebo and nocebo effects in sport are illusory, and might be better explained by variations in phenomena suc...
Article
Background: Novel lower-limb prostheses aim to improve the quality of locomotion of individuals with an amputation. This study evaluates the biomechanics of a novel bionic foot during walking. Methods: Able-bodied individuals (n = 7) and individuals with a transfemoral (n = 6) or transtibial amputation (n = 6) were included. Able-bodied individu...