Tested: If Mental Work Genuinely Affects Physical Tiredness

This could easily explain stroke fatigue. But I bet your doctor won't change the stupid admonition to exercise more. Three years after my stroke I had a physical where my resting heart rate was 54 at the age of 53. That means my cardiovascular fitness was that of an athlete. Yet I was still completely fatigued everyday. All researchers would have had to do is talk to a few stroke survivors to learn this. It's not rocket science, it is simply cause and effect which I don't think a lot of our stroke medical professionals understand.
http://www.spring.org.uk/2015/08/tested-if-mental-work-genuinely-affects-physical-tiredness.php?omhide=true&utm_source=PsyBlog&utm_campaign=bb0d00021d-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_MAILCHIMP&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_10ef814328-bb0d00021d-213838825

For the research, participants repeatedly squeezed on a hand-grip while performing mental tasks designed to fatigue them.

At the same time, an area of the brain called the prefrontal cortex was monitored.

The prefrontal cortex is the part of the brain at the front above and behind the eyes.

This area is vital to our personalities, how we plan complex actions, and more.

The researchers found that the prefrontal cortex became more ‘tired’ when people were performing both mental and physical tasks.

It appears the brain devotes some of its resources to physical tasks and some to mental tasks.

The research is one of the first to show how mental and physical tasks can interact to fatigue the brain.

Dr Mehta said:

“Not a lot of people see the value in looking at both the brain and the body together.

However, no one does purely physical or mental work; they always do both.”

So, it appears the brain is like a muscle in the sense that work — whether mental or physical — weakens its strength.

The study was published in the journal Human Factors (Mehta & Parasuraman, 2015).

More at the link.