Healthline: Why Thinking Hard Can Make You Feel Tired
“Before we retake control of our brains, we have to talk about glutamate. Glutamate is a metabolite, which just means it’s something your body makes when it converts food into energy.
But it’s not just any metabolite. It’s also the most abundant neurotransmitter in your brain.This means it’s an important chemical messenger that allows your brain cells to communicate with each other. So far glutamate sounds pretty great. Of course, you’ve heard of having too much of a good thing, right?
Researchers in Paris wanted to better understand the mechanisms behind cognitive fatigue, so they did some digging.
In their study, participants were given a series of tasks to complete and then asked to make various economic choices.
The researchers then looked at the metabolites in participants’ brains using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), a type of medical imaging scan. The results revealed that work that was more cognitively demanding led to a buildup of glutamate in the lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC).
Experts believe this part of the brain plays an important role in several tasks, including:
Inhibition
paying attention
Planning
Problem-solving
working memory
The researchers say that once this accumulation of glutamate occurs, it might require extra energy to activate your LPFC.
In other words, after you’ve made a lot of choices — especially tough choices that take a lot of brain power — you might be more inclined to “press the easy button.””
Some Insights From This Article
Fatigue can manifest in many ways, cognitive fatigue is the feeling of low motivation, low energy to complete activities or do tasks after a long day of using our brains whether it be out in a social gathering or long day of classes/exam.
Cognitive fatigue was studied in light of our neurotransmitters, specifically glutamate. Glutamate is the primary neurotransmitter in our brain that is responsible for eliciting communication while we are awake. It’s an excitatory neurotransmitter meaning it activates parts of the brain when we are engaged in activity, say studying.
Throughout the day the metabolites of glutamate and other brain chemicals build up and can eventually cause inhibition of pathways that would normally be sharp and ready in the morning. These metabolites are somewhat cleared but is most effectively dealt with during sleep in which cells in our brain go full clean up/repair mode to reset our brain for the next day.
Full article is here!
#Cognitive #Fatigue #Tiredness
@sunnyWriting4806
Hello!
Cognitive fatigue is something people don’t tend
to identify as something that is contributing to their tiredness! We often
think about what kind of physical activities we’ve done that have made us tired.
So, this article was very insightful!! Thank you for sharing with us! <3 🌿🌺
@innateJoy9602
Yes! It's important to know that our brain is an organ too that actually takes a considerable amount of energy from our body to function!
@sunnyWriting4806 It's very important to try to take care of our brain as is contributes to overall health. Thank you for sharing this post!
@calmDew1576
Our brain is arguably the most important organ in our bodies! Self-care and physical care definitely need to include cognitive health as well!