Researchers at Pitié Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris examined brain imaging data from 40 participants. They induced mental fatigue using two cognitive control tasks. Participants who completed the difficult cognitive tasks exhibited a reduction of pupil dilation during an economic choice task. They also displayed a greater preference for immediate rewards, rather than waiting longer or exerting more effort to obtain better rewards. The researchers were particularly interested in the role of glutamate, an excitatory neurotransmitter involved in a variety of cognitive functions, including learning and memory.Read Long Article
