title: Effects of pellet stove on recovery from mental fatigue.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Exposure to a warm environment has been reported to be effective for recovery from mental fatigue. However, there have been no reports examining the effects of a pellet stove on recovery from mental fatigue. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a pellet stove on recovery from mental fatigue.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this placebo-controlled, crossover experiment, 16 healthy volunteers were randomized into the pellet stove and control groups. After a 30-min fatigue-inducing mental task session, participants moved to a recovery room with (pellet stove condition) or without (control condition) a pellet stove to see the image of a pellet stove for 30 min.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After the recovery session, the participants exposed to the pellet stove condition showed lower total error counts of a cognitive test, higher levels of subjective healing, comfort, and warmth, and sympathetic nerve activity and higher parasympathetic nerve activity as compared with the control condition.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results provide evidence that improved cognitive function, subjective mental states, and balance of the autonomic nervous activities result from using a pellet stove during the recovery session. Hence, the pellet stove was effective for the recovery from mental fatigue.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Osaka City University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-4-3 Asahimachi, Abeno-ku, Osaka, Japan. masa-t@msic.med.osaka-cu.ac.jp
authors.forename: Masaaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Hiromi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.forename: Takayuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Yasuyoshi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Watanabe
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006801:Humans; D005222:Mental Fatigue; D010919:Placebos; D012016:Reference Values; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis
chemical_list: D010919:Placebos