Scientists Confirm Intense Mental Effort Damages Brain
A recent review suggests that when people rub their foreheads and complain about a complex problem making their brain hurt, they’re not exaggerating. According to a study published on August 5 in Psychological Bulletin, mental exertion is commonly linked to unpleasant feelings.
The review indicates that increased mental effort often leads to feelings of frustration, stress, and irritation. “Our findings reveal that mental effort is generally experienced as unpleasant across various populations and tasks,” said Erik Bijleveld, the senior researcher and associate professor of psychology at Radboud University in the Netherlands.
Bijleveld emphasized the importance of this finding for professionals, such as engineers and educators, who design tasks and tools. “When individuals are required to exert significant mental effort, it is crucial to provide support or incentives to mitigate these negative feelings,” he noted in a university news release.
The review analyzed 170 studies from 2019 and 2020 involving 4,670 participants from diverse backgrounds, including health care workers, military personnel, amateur athletes, and college students from 29 countries. The tasks studied ranged from learning new technology and navigating unfamiliar environments to practicing sports and playing virtual reality games.
The overall results show that high mental exertion tends to produce unpleasant sensations. However, the intensity of this association varies by region, being less pronounced in Asian countries compared to Europe and North America. This variation could suggest that cultural and educational experiences impact how mental effort is perceived.
For instance, students in Asia often engage in more rigorous academic work than their counterparts in Europe or North America, which might lead them to develop greater resilience to mental effort earlier in life.
Interestingly, despite the discomfort associated with mental tasks, people continue to engage in them. “For example, why do so many people play chess?” Bijleveld questioned. “People may learn that the rewards of certain mentally challenging activities outweigh the discomfort. They may choose to engage in these activities because of the anticipated benefits, not because they enjoy the mental effort itself.”
Bijleveld advised that managers and educators should be aware that choosing mentally demanding activities does not necessarily indicate a fondness for mental effort. “While employees and students may often opt for challenging tasks, this does not mean they enjoy the mental strain. Our results suggest that, in general, people find mental effort quite unpleasant,” he concluded.
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