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What Is Mental Effort: A Clinical Perspective.

Accepted version
Peer-reviewed

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Authors

Wolpe, Noham 
Holton, Richard 
Fletcher, Paul C 

Abstract

Although mental effort is a frequently used term, it is poorly defined and understood. Consequently, its usage is frequently loose and potentially misleading. In neuroscience research, the term is used to mean both the cognitive work that is done to meet task demands and the subjective experience of performing that work. We argue that conflating these two meanings hampers progress in understanding cognitive impairments in neuropsychiatric conditions because cognitive work and the subjective experience of it have distinct underlying mechanisms. We suggest that the most coherent and clinically useful perspective on mental effort is that it is a subjective experience. This makes a clear distinction between cognitive impairments that arise from changes in the cognitive apparatus, as in dementia and brain injury, and those that arise from subjective difficulties in carrying out the cognitive work, as in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, depression, and other motivational disorders. We review recent advances in neuroscience research that suggests that the experience of effort has emerged to control task switches so as to minimize costs relative to benefits. We consider how these advances can contribute to our understanding of the experience of increased effort perception in clinical populations. This more specific framing of mental effort will offer a deeper understanding of the mechanisms of cognitive impairments in differing clinical groups and will ultimately facilitate better therapeutic interventions.

Description

Keywords

Apathy, Cognitive control, Cognitive effort, Demotivation, Mental effort, Opportunity cost, Humans, Cognition, Cognitive Dysfunction, Motivation, Neurosciences

Journal Title

Biol Psychiatry

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

0006-3223
1873-2402

Volume Title

Publisher

Elsevier BV
Sponsorship
Wellcome Trust (206368/Z/17/Z)
Bernard Wolfe Health Neuroscience Fund Wellcome Trust Investigator Award (206368/Z/17/Z). NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre (NIHR203312)