LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – A team of Austrian researchers found that just 50 minutes of videoconferencing caused “significant changes in physiological and subjective fatigue.”

The small study monitored a group of 35 university students, using electrodes to measure brain and heart activity. Eighteen students attended a lecture online, while 17 watched it on video.

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Participants who watched the lecture online had higher levels of neurophysiological fatigue than did their in-person counterparts, as measured by heart rate variability, heart rate, and brain activity related to alertness, attention, and energy.

Online participants also self-reported discomfort.

“Our participants reported to feel significantly more fatigued, tired, drowsy, and fed up, as well as less lively, happy, and active, as a consequence of participation in the videoconferencing condition, if compared to participation in the face-to-face condition,” researchers reported. “Also, mood in general worsened as a consequence of participation in the videoconferencing condition compared to the face-to-face condition.”

Researchers suggested that videoconference participants could take short breaks from technology to recharge brains and bodies but added that these and similar countermeasures have not been deeply researched.

“A major implication of our study is that videoconferencing should be considered as a possible compliment to face-to-face interaction, but not as a substitute,” researchers wrote. “Our results suggest that use of videoconferencing may lead to cognitive costs, which must not be ignored by individuals and organizations.”