Toward a Rational and Mechanistic Account of Mental Effort.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Narrative review synthesizing theoretical and computational models without original human trial data.
PubMed 28375769 · doi:10.1146/annurev-neuro-072116-031526
What was done
This paper reviews advances in computational modeling and empirical literature concerning the mechanistic and psychological basis of mental effort, focusing on the source of cognitive control limitations, the perceived costliness of effort, and resource allocation strategies.
What was found
The abstract reports no numerical findings or quantitative statistics. It describes theoretical models and empirical evidence proposing that mental effort is aversive and limited by capacity constraints, with effort allocation operating via cost-benefit trade-offs at psychological and neural levels.
Why it matters
It offers a structured theoretical and computational framework to understand why mental exertion feels costly and how the brain allocates limited cognitive control resources.
Limits
The paper is a narrative theoretical review rather than a systematic review or empirical study, providing no primary human data, pooled effect sizes, or explicit search methodology.
Cited by
- context According to cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham, the brain is designed to prevent a person from having to think whenever possible because thinking is energetically costly.