The Art of Staying Motivated. Or is it Science?
How neuroscience can determine your road to success
Motivation is the magic drug that sells itself. Motivation wakes you up. Motivation face Mondays with a smile on the face. Motivation finishes the task before the deadline. Motivation reaches ‘that’ goal. To sum up, motivation turns your crappy world into one with rainbows and unicorns.
Too many of them talk about motivation like an elixir that can bring the dead to life. After watching the adrenaline-charged speech by Jordan Belfort to his fellow Strattonites, I bet you feel like the world is your oyster. Hell yes! I hit a motivational high every time The Pursuit of Happiness is on and there’s nothing that can stop me for at least three days from achieving my greatest goals in life. But what happens after the third day? What happens after that high fade? And why does it even fade?
That is the question that scientists led by Professor Carmen Sandi at EPFL (École Polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne) University and Dr. Gedi Luksys at the University of Edinburgh have sought to answer.
The study has been published in Neuropsychopharmacology.
Motivation is the road to Success
So, what made researchers consider neuroscience above metaphysics when motivation was in question? Well, for instance, in 2012, studies involving neurotransmitters and substrate ratios influencing memory and decision-making already made quite an impact in the neuroscience research field. Besides, previous studies hold witness to the fact that the motivational threshold varies for different individuals, and apathy is the enemy to long-lasting motivation. In more heavily laden words, apathy is the common villain in neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders.
Now that the researchers became well aware of the problems, it was time to determine the source of these problems. The answer wasn’t difficult to come across since there was already a load of scientific experimental studies pointing the finger towards the Nucleus Accumbens. Located at the bottom of the brain, the nucleus accumbens has been widely researched for several functions of the brain like aversion, reward, reinforcement, and motivation.
Into the experiment chambers
The study entailed the participation of 43 candidates. All they had to do was squeeze a device that measures force. It’s called a dynamometer. The experiment was fueled by motivation in the form of money in the end; a wonderful chance to earn 0.2, 0.5, or 1 Swiss franc. However, the process had to be repeated several times for about 120 consecutive trials to obtain viable results.
The concept behind the exercise was simple. The observable parameter was how the performance of an individual changed with the level of motivation being provided to them in the form of money. The team didn’t stop at that. They went ahead and subjected individuals to isolated tasks as well as group tasks. The former condition determined self-motivated action. The latter was imposed to determine the effect of competition on an individual’s performance.
While engaged in these activities, the participants were subjected to “proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy”, or 1H-MRS. This spectroscopic technique measured the chemical alterations occurring in the brain while executing the organized activities. In other words, the 1H-MRS measured the levels of neurotransmitters and metabolites in the nucleus accumbens.
The next step was to construct a computational model to analyze the behavioral data recorded from the participants concerning utility, effort, and stamina. The 1H-MRS results indicated the changes in neurochemical levels in the accumbens to draw a relation with motivation.
The most awaited deductions
A thorough analysis of the data obtained from the model and the spectroscopic study led the team to unveil the secret behind motivation. And behold the discovery of the magic molecules that can finally give you the motivation you needed so bad!
It is the glutamine to glutamate ratio within the nucleus accumbens nestled at the bottom of the brain that can control, influence, and affect what your life is and becomes. Therefore, higher the ratio, higher is your motivational threshold or stamina to persevere and run after your goals till you’ve crossed the winning line.
However, the analyses don’t stop here. There’s more. Wait for it! Remember that guy you love to hate for constantly giving you a hard time in the race to becoming the best? Well, he’s not as bad as he seems, since he along with many of your other competitors are responsible for boosting your performance. That’s not a page out of some Norman Vincent Peale book. It is now scientifically validated that competition boosts performance, motivation, and stamina in individuals with low glutamine to glutamate ratio thus, leading to a more satisfactory life.
“The findings provide novel insights in the field of motivation neuroscience,” says Carmen Sandi. “They show that the balance between glutamine and glutamate can help predict specific, computational components of motivated performance. Our approach and data can also help us develop therapeutic strategies, including nutritional interventions that address deficits in effort engagement by targeting metabolism.”
What’s next?
What we can expect next is the development of drugs or biologics or therapeutic approaches to increase the magic ratio. Experimental activities further down the line would probably target these metabolites to optimize the performance and output of an individual. The future looks at more surveys, studies, a few animal model studies, and yet another rat race to reach the motivational dysfunction solution or Viagra for the under-achievers.
Though the discovery is a milestone in the neuroscience field, it can culminate into both a boon and a bane. It is now up to the human race on how this revelation will be used ahead in time. Therefore, the question remains, will the science behind “stamina and motivated activity” help mankind influence better changes or just induce another rat race with heavily doped rats eager to just cross the finishing line faster?
