Physiological Correlates
The role of glucose as a specific form of energy needed for self-control has been explored. Glucose, a sugar found in many foods, is a vital fuel for the body and the brain. Even though minor fluctuations in glucose levels do not significantly affect most cognitive processes, the process of self-control seems strongly influenced by glucose levels. Gailliot and his colleagues found a significant drop in blood glucose levels following an act of self-control. Furthermore, low levels of glucose after an initial self-control task predicted a hindered ability to perform subsequent self-control tasks. Thirdly, boosting an individual’s glucose levels improved subsequent self-control performance. Therefore, poor self-control can be attributed to drops in glucose level, and consuming glucose can replenish a depleted individual’s self-control resources.
The underlying neural processes associated with self-control failure have been recently examined using neurophysiological techniques. According to cognitive and neuroscientific models of mental control, a "conflict-monitoring/error-detection system" identifies discrepancies between intended goals and actual behaviors. Error-related negativity (ERN) signals are a waveform of event-related potentials, which appear to be generated in the anterior cingulate cortex when individuals commit errors in various psychological tasks. Using electroencephalography (EEG) recordings, Inzlicht and Gutsell found that individuals who had undergone an emotion-suppression task displayed weaker ERN signals compared to individuals who had not undergone emotion-suppression tasks. These findings demonstrate preliminary evidence that depletion experienced after exerting self-control, can weaken neural mechanisms responsible for conflict monitoring.
Read more about this topic: Ego Depletion