The Effects of Depletion and Brain Stimulation on Motivation

• Main Author: Bell, Sarah Beth
• Format: Others
• Published: UKnowledge 2017
• Subjects: brain stimulation; depletion; self-control; tDCS; motivation; Social Psychology
• Online Access: http://uknowledge.uky.edu/psychology_etds/113; http://uknowledge.uky.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1113&context=psychology_etds

Mental fatigue decreases motivation. I tested whether applying electricity to a self-control region of the brain would replenish some of the motivation normally lost during mental fatigue. 224 people participated in this study. Each person received real or placebo brain stimulation while undergoing activities that increased mental fatigue. The dependent variable was a task where participants had to perform work by clicking a computer mouse repeatedly. Before performing this task, participants indicated how hard they were planning to work on this motivation task. Participants who received real brain stimulation were able to perform more work, but only if they also indicated they planned to work hard on the task.