Our brain is not a muscle (nerding out alert) · Inspired Life, Empowered Being

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29d (edited) • Intellectual/Personal Growth💡

Our brain is not a muscle (nerding out alert)

Our brains/bodies are SOOOOOO frickin' cool!!!

I woke up at my usual time this morning (4a.m.), got ready for the gym and read and journaled until about 6a.m.. This is the usual routine. Although fully caffeinated, at 6a.m. a wave of tiredness hit me and I decided to not go to the gym and take a nap before work instead and slept until 8. (this is unusual--I usually force myself to go even if I'm tired)...(side thought: In college I used to have redbull and it would be funny because within an hour of having it, I'd still be able to go to bed...good times).

Anyways, this whole situation got me wondering about the why and I think that the mental load of the activities (and the CONTENT and EMOTIONAL LOAD/MANAGEMENT of what I was thinking/writing about) this morning kind of depleted me just a bit. And this made me think of the lower amount of energy investment I've been putting into things as of late.

(I was writing about truth which took me down a cool path but at the end (and it's not really the end), I started digging into things more and that ended up being it's own journey that I know will be going on for a long time. But, I knocked myself out in the process. ha. So, I woke up and started looking up things about the brain because I'm often energized by learning new things and engaging in conversations (my whole job is dependent on me being alert/engaged) but this time it wiped me so I wanted to know the science behind what was happening....nerding it out ). The video talks about HOW to address/ manage energy! :)

So here are some fun facts for you (that you may have already known, but they're interesting anyway).

It's okay if you don't read it all....I'll be using this moving forward so I and my clients will be benefitting! :)

BUT, it might be worth reading to gain an even deeper understanding of what's happening if you feel depleted! :)

(Thanks to notebooklm for condensing a bunch of different articles and spitting out some cool facts about the 𝐧𝐞𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧)

**The brain is NOT a muscle; it is an organ made of nervous tissue, fat, and fluid, though it can be "flexed" or trained like a muscle. The brain gets tired. Heavy cognitive thinking chemically tires the brain out by depleting glucose and lowering dopamine levels, which reduces motivation and makes focusing harder. ***

**Prolonged mental activity causes fatigue, a state often referred to as cognitive fatigue or "brain fog". This fatigue is not just "in your head" but is a biological signal used to preserve the integrity of brain functioning.

Causes for this tiredness:

𝐆𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐮𝐩: Intense thinking causes glutamate, an excitatory neurotransmitter, to accumulate in the lateral prefrontal cortex. High concentrations can become toxic, hampering cognitive control and making further reasoning difficult.
𝐀𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞:When brain cells are overworked, they release adenosine, which acts as a "fatigue factor" to quiet the cells and trigger drowsiness.
𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: The strength model of self-regulation suggests that the brain uses a limited energy resource (often linked to glucose) for willpower and top-down control. When this resource is spent, the brain enters a state of ego depletion, causing it to conserve remaining energy by reducing effort on subsequent tasks.

*****𝐂𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟-𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥.*****

Activities that are most likely to tire the brain include:

𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐱 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧-𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠: Making choices, especially those involving difficult trade-offs, consumes significant self-regulatory resources and leads to decision fatigue.
****𝐒𝐞𝐥𝐟-𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥 𝐓𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐬: Resisting impulses, stifling emotions,, and suppressing unwanted thoughts are all highly depleting.***
𝐒𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐅𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: Tasks that require one to constantly keep track of their own responses or perform "have-to" work (activities one feels forced to do) are more exhausting than "want-to" activities that one enjoys. Masking type activities.
𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐱 𝐌𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐋𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜: high-level processes (such as logical reasoning and making ) inferencesdeteriorate quickly during fatigue, whereas rote memorization and general knowledge remain relatively unaffected

***𝐄𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐱𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟-𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 (𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬) 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 "𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞" 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐡𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐲𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐬.

𝐖𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐱𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲:

𝐑𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐄𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐬:
When the brain works hard to regulate emotions or maintain focus, it may prioritize its own energy needs over other organs. Studies show that during intense self-regulatory exertion, the body can divert energy away from functions like heart rate and liver activity to provide more fuel for the brain.
𝐃𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐏𝐡𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬:
Intense self-regulation has been shown to cause measurable changes in bodily functions. For instance, while stress typically quickens the heart rate, the specific act of self-regulating emotions can actually slow the heart rate and change heart rate variability. It can also slow the liver's ability to metabolize substances like alcohol.
𝐑𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐏𝐡𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚:
Mental fatigue and "ego depletion" (the state of having used up your self-control resources) directly impair physical endurance and pain tolerance. One study showed that people who engaged in a demanding cognitive task performed significantly worse on subsequent physical endurance tests, such as cycling.
𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐞 𝐒𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐬:
Fatigue is often characterized by "interoceptive" information-bodily signals that arise from widespread areas of the brain, including motor and somatosensory regions, and feed into evaluation centers. These signals are experienced as a depletion of physical energy or feeling "washed-out".
𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐠-𝐓𝐞𝐫𝐦 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐂𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐬:
**Sustained emotional tax and intense self-control can have lasting physical consequences. Research into individuals living in stressful, disorganized environments found that those who exerted the most self-control actually had worse bodily health, including cellular and metabolic changes associated with premature aging.**

***** 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐱𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲, 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐡𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲.****

Have there been times when you're dealing with something that feels more emotionally 'heavy' in life and that ends up depleting your energy towards other things?

***VIDEO is about managing our energy (rather than our time)***** (may do a post on this later too)

Yes, when there's something emotionally weighty,/requires more cognitive effort, I'm less inclined to want to do and have less energy for other things

Yes, I feel less energy but I push through regardless usually

I've never felt any difference

Other

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17 comments

Our brain is not a muscle (nerding out alert)