The effect of self-regulated neck-cooling on physical and cognitive performance during heat stress
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Abstract
This study investigated the physiological, perceptual, cognitive, and performance effects of self-regulated neck-cooling during heat stress. Nine, healthy, non-heat acclimated, participants undertook two experimental trials in the heat (35°C; 50% rh) during which they completed bouts of supine rest (30min), submaximal cycling exercise (20min at ~140bpm), and supine recovery (15min). Participants wore a novel electronic cooling collar in one trial (COOL) and were able to personalise the frequency and intensity of the cooling to maintain thermal comfort using a tablet-based application. Participants reduced the collar temperature over time which reduced their mean neck temperature throughout (-2.2 ± 0.6°C) and local neck thermal sensation during the rest and exercise bouts. The collar had no effect on physiological (rectal temperature [Δ 0.0 ± 0.1°C], aural temperature [Δ 0.0 ± 0.2°C], skin temperature [Δ 0.1 ± 0.3°C], or heart rate [Δ -4 ± 7 bpm]) or perceptual strain (whole-body thermal sensation and comfort) during rest or exercise bouts nor did it improve cognitive performance (reaction time, movement time, and spatial working memory), mood, or overhead press performance. The demands of the protocol investigated may have been insufficient to alter physiological strain or mood sufficiently to necessitate neck cooling despite improved localized thermal sensation.
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References
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