Neuroscience of Exhaustion & Staying Motivated 🧠

We've all experienced the exhaustion of mental fatigue. If you work long enough and hard enough on a cognitively demanding task, you'll eventually lose motivation and focus. Worse yet, burnout is right around the corner. This video is a deep dive into the neuroscience of mental fatigue and how to stay motivated.

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Sources:
- Kok, A. (2022). Cognitive control, motivation and fatigue: A cognitive neuroscience perspective. Brain and Cognition, 160, 105880.

- Qi, P., Ru, H., Gao, L., Zhang, X., Zhou, T., Tian, Y., ... & Sun, Y. (2019). Neural mechanisms of mental fatigue revisited: New insights from the brain connectome. Engineering, 5(2), 276-286.

- Monosov, I. E., Haber, S. N., Leuthardt, E. C., & Jezzini, A. (2020). Anterior cingulate cortex and the control of dynamic behavior in primates. Current Biology, 30(23), R1442-R1454.

- Klein-Flügge, M. C., Bongioanni, A., & Rushworth, M. F. (2022). Medial and orbital frontal cortex in decision-making and flexible behavior. Neuron.

- Boksem, M. A., & Tops, M. (2008). Mental fatigue: costs and benefits. Brain research reviews, 59(1), 125-139.

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Timestamps:
00:00 What is mental fatigue?
00:50 How mental fatigue affects brain networks
04:05 What causes mental fatigue?
05:20 The role of dopamine in mental fatigue
07:12 The potential role of serotonin
08:23 Hunger and mental fatigue
10:30 Neuroeconomics, decision making, & mental fatigue
10:48 The vmPFC and ventral striatum in valuation, pleasure, and learning
12:01 The role of the anterior insula, amygdala, and periaqueductal grey
13:50 The ACC integrates potential costs and benefits
16:45 How does the brain's cost/benefit analysis feed into behavior?
18:52 Step 1: Good Nutrition and Sleep
20:52 Step 2: Take Breaks
21:15 Step 3: Consider Costs and Benefits
22:38 Step 4: Stress Management Techniques
24:16 Mental fatigue is unavoidable but...

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All graphics and images obtained from scientific articles have been credited in the video and/or in the above list of references.

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