Does the Brain Consume Additional Glucose during Self-Control Tasks?

• Published in: Evolutionary psychology Vol. 8; no. 2; pp. 244 - 259
• Main Author: Kurzban, Robert
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.04.2010; SAGE Publishing
• Subjects: Blood Glucose - metabolism; Brain - metabolism; Brain - physiology; Decision Making - physiology; Humans; Impulsive Behavior - metabolism; Internal-External Control; Neuropsychological Tests; Original; Task Performance and Analysis; self-control; brain metabolism; glucose; optimal foraging
• ISSN: 1474-7049; 1474-7049
• DOI: 10.1177/147470491000800208

A currently popular model of self-control posits that the exertion of self-control relies on a resource, which is expended by acts of self-control, resulting in less of this resource being available for subsequent acts of self-control. Recently, glucose has been proposed as the resource in question. For this model to be correct, it must be the case that A) performing a self-control task reduces glucose levels relative to a control task and B) performing a self-control task reduces glucose relative to pre-task levels. Evidence from neurophysiology suggests that (A) is unlikely to be true, and the evidence surrounding (B) is mixed, and is unlikely to be true for subjects who have not recently fasted. From the standpoint of evolved function, glucose might better be thought of as an input to decision making systems rather than as a constraint on performance.