Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

A fascinating new article on The Conversation website by DPAG's Professor Zoltán Molnár and Professor Tamas Horvath from Yale University.

A long day in the office can leave you empty of energy and overcome with desire for TV and a takeaway. But you’ve been sitting down all day. So why do you feel as tired as your friends who have physical jobs?

Struggling through your list of essential tasks feels ever more gruelling as the clock ticks down for home-time. Worse still is bumping into a colleague on your way out who “just wants a quick minute”. It might seem obvious that you are more likely to make impulsive decisions at the end of a long day, but people often power through anyway.

A recent study that scanned people’s brains at different points in their work day found high-demand tasks which require intense, constant concentration can lead to build-up of a potentially toxic chemical called glutamate. Normally used to send signals from nerve cells, in large quantities glutamate alters the performance of a brain region involved in planning and decision making, the lateral prefrontal cortex (lPFC).

Science has shown time again that mental fatigue has real effects. There are numerous studies which show that court decisions can depend on how fatigued the judge is. For example, after a long day in court, judges are more likely to deny parole (which is considered the safer option). Studies show that clinicians are more likely to prescribe unnecessary antibiotics at the end of a tiring clinical session.

Read the full article on The Conversation website, written by Professor Zoltan Molnar, (Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford) and Professor Tamas Horvath (Yale University).

Oxford is a subscribing member of The ConversationFind out how you can write for The Conversation.

Similar stories

Armin Lak appointed Associate Professor of Integrative Neuroscience

The post is in association with a Tutorial Fellowship at St John's College.

Inaugural winners of the DPAG Prize for Public Engagement with Research announced

Congratulations are in order for the winners Katherine Brimblecombe and Anna Kordala, and also to Jéssica Luiz and Andia Redpath who were highly commended for their outreach and public engagement work.

Shaping Destiny team showcases virtual reality experience

DPAG researchers based at the IDRM joined Body Politic dance group members at Pegasus Theatre on Monday 21 November 2022 to showcase a unique virtual reality (VR) experience created by the interdisciplinary Shaping Destiny public engagement project.

New BBSRC grant to further our insights into how the cortex controls sleep

Professor of Sleep Physiology Vladyslav Vyazovskiy and Professor of Developmental Neuroscience Zoltán Molnár have been awarded a Project Grant from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) for “Brain mechanisms of sleep: top-down or bottom-up?”

Collaborative MRC grant paves the way to new therapeutic targets for stress and anxiety disorders

Dr Armin Lak, Associate Professor Ed Mann and Professor Zoltán Molnár have been awarded a £733K Project Grant from the Medical Research Council on “Orexinergic projections to neocortex: potential role in arousal, stress and anxiety-related disorders”.