In most cases, deep thought and concentration do not burn tons more calories than routine brain activity. But if we think we’ve worn out our brains, we will feel exhausted anyways.
I’m thoroughly disappointed. All this time aggressively thinking while sitting on my butt in my cubicle doing nothing, no wonder I don’t look like Scarlett Johansson.
Mental fatigue or exhaustion is nothing out of the ordinary; driving half way across the country in a day will do it for you.
Surely complex thought and intense concentration require more energy than routine mental processes. Just as vigorous exercise tires our bodies, intellectual exertion should drain the brain. What the latest science reveals, however, is that the popular notion of mental exhaustion is too simplistic. The brain continuously slurps up huge amounts of energy for an organ of its size, regardless of whether we are tackling integral calculus or clicking through the week’s top 10 LOLcats. – Ferris Jabr, Scientific American
How much energy does the brain consume on a daily basis?
Although the average adult human brain weighs about 1.4 kilograms, only 2 percent of total body weight, it demands 20 percent of our resting metabolic rate (RMR)—the total amount of energy our bodies expend in one very lazy day of no activity. RMR varies from person to person depending on age, gender, size and health. If we assume an average resting metabolic rate of 1,300 calories, then the brain consumes 260 of those calories just to keep things in order. That’s 10.8 calories every hour or 0.18 calories each minute. – Ferris Jabr, Scientific American
Your brain certainly burns calories but not a significantly greater amount when you’re concentrating or performing complex mental gymnastics.
So, while thinking hard may leave you exhausted and eating might help you feel better, it’s not because you’re replacing lost calories: in actual fact, you’re likely to be comfort eating to make yourself feel happier.- Jamie Condliffe, Gizmodo
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