The relationship between physical effort and cognitive control

The ability to ignore distractions and focus on the tasks at hand, or cognitive control, is a crucial part of our cognitive functioning. Research suggests that some cognitive and physical functioning share resources. Yet, it remains unclear how this shared relationship between cognitive and physical functioning affects cognitive control. We studied this connection by regulating the amount of experienced physical strain, and then comparing how the level of physical strain affects the ability to inhibit distractors. Research has shown that humans have a limited amount of cognitive resources available at any given time. As the expenditure of these resources increases in other cognitive areas, our ability to inhibit distractors diminishes. Our project demonstrated that the relationship between cognitive and physical processes share a similar resource bank and would behave in a similar fashion. This research may lead to the development of treatments for neuropathologies hindering cognitive control, such as ADHD.