Half of the cohort have ridden the Tour de France. They were able to tolerate a whole bunch of mental demands that we were throwing at them cognitive challenges without really interfering with their performance. So, you know, it was just a snapshot. We weren't manipulating training or anything like that. It's hard to say exactly what was happening. The people that did more physical training, not necessarily fitter, but they do more physical training. And for those people that rated the workplace as being more cognitively demanding, typically performed better in these mental fatigue assessments. But I think it's very clear that it's trackable and there's also a genetic component too.
Ben Rattray is an Associate Professor at the University of Canberra, where he teaches Exercise Physiology related units at both undergraduate and postgraduate level and works with the Research Institute for Sport and Exercise, where he heads up the Active Brain Research (Twitter) theme.
Ben earned his doctoral degree at the University of Sydney in 2009, focussing on mitochondrial and calcium interactions in skeletal muscle.
Since starting at UC in 2009, Ben has shifted his focus towards understanding interactions between human movement and the brain, seeking to optimise health and performance. Ben’s research seeks to understand how exercise can impact cognition and how the brain contributes to fatigue in both acute and chronic settings.
His work has been applied in a range of contexts including military, corporate, health and high-performance sport settings. In 2016, Ben was awarded UC’s Early Career Research prize and has a growing reputation as a leader in the area with collaborations worldwide.
But, to be honest, he would rather be orienteering, running, mountain biking, adventure racing, playing basketball, kayaking or skiing (all badly), and be spending time with his family.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.