Exercise and motivation linked
Background
Authors
P. Chavalittamrong
Special thanks to
Kim Woong Young, Diane Coon, K.
Wright, Karissa Lynch, Tsheyang
Tsering
In Brief
P. Chavalittamrong found that
exercising before a written analog
for motivation, increased the
average productivity of the
subject.
Highlights
-
Connection between exercise and motivation
-
Demonstrated workout only ten minutes
-
Subjects demonstrated increased motivation in experimental test
In today’s society, work is not encouraged by avoiding starvation,
but by more abstract concepts such as money, authority or notoriety. This
makes motivation less strong as people are less desperate to go through
processes to not just survive but improve their living condition.
Motivation: the desire, drive or will to do something, achieve a goal.
Motivation is the basis of everything living beings do. Whether that be for the
betterment of the species, the betterment of a community, or the betterment
of oneself. Motivation is caused by chemical reactions in the brain. Most
animals are invigorated to take actions because of a chemical called
dopamine(Foo et al., 2021). When rats are put on a treadmill to run and are
randomly given sugar water, this is similar to the process of achieving a goal,
and causes spontaneous spikes of dopamine in the brain of the rat, with no
correlation between the dopamine and receiving the sugar(Foo et al., 2021).
This means that dopamine is the reward for the process, not the achievement.
Fig 1. Spontaneous impulses of dopamine in neocortex (Foo et al., 2021)
Dopamine is a hormone produced in the brain while tasks are being
done to achieve a goal. Most animals are motivated by dopamine to complete
tasks; therefore dopamine is integral to the motivation of an individual.
Dopamine, along with many other hormones control motivation, and other
bodily functions. Hormones are chemicals that are produced by glands in one
part of the body that then affect other parts of the body. Hormones in humans
are produced in glands, some commonly known glands are the thyroid gland,
Adrenal gland, and the pancreas, each one producing a different hormone.
Once the hormones are produced, cells that have the ability to pick up the
hormones will fulfil the related function. Each cell’s membrane has receptors
that can receive a certain hormone, and the amount of receivers on the cell
indicate the sensitivity to the hormone. Hormones are chemicals produced by
glands, used by the body in order to tell cells what to do. They are used by
hormonal glands in order to communicate with parts of the body in order to
complete tasks in the body, each hormone has its own unique function. The
hormones that will be important for this experiment will be dopamine.
Dopamine is produced in the substantia nigra and the ventral tegmental area
(Known as VTA)(Özdaş, 2021). Both of these have concentrated with
dopamine but both help supply different parts of the body and brain with
dopamine. Dopamine is created in the dopamine neurons as follows.
Tyrosine, that is an amino acid, is broken down into dihydroxyphenylalanine
(known as L-DOPA) with tyrosine hydroxylase, that is an enzyme that
removes a hydrogen from Tyrosine and replaces it with a hydroxide. L-DOPA
is then relieved of a carboxylic acid by the enzyme DOPA decarboxylase
(Walter , 2012). Dopamine that is produced is then sent on one of four
pathways (Known as bridges). The first pathway, the Mesolimbic pathway.
This pathway brings dopamine to the midbrain and the nucleus accumbens.
The nucleus accumbens is related with feelings of pleasure and reward. The
Mesocortical pathway leads to the prefrontal cortex; that handles decision
making and concentration. Both of the above pathways start at the VTA
(neurochallenged, 2015). The Nigrostriatal pathway leads from the
substantia nigra to the caudate and putamen, inside the basal ganglia. This is
involved in motor planning (neurochallenged, 2015). The final pathway, the
Tuberoinfundibular pathway leads from the arcuate and paraventricular
nuclei of the hypothalamus and leads to the infundibular in the
hypothalamus. In the infundibular the dopamine inhibits prolactin release.
Dopamine is produced and distributed within the brain in order to control
mood, decisions, concentration, motor function and even controlling other
hormones.
Abstract
In the daily life of humans in an urban environment, self
improvement is commonly why people work. This is less effective at
motivating than more urgent goals, such as needing to put food on the table.
This is even more evident when goals are long term rather than short term.
Because dopamine production is related to the process of completing tasks,
and correlates to higher levels of motivation in tasks, a positive feedback loop
is able to be started by completing simple tasks leading up to a task that
requires motivation. Therefore the goal of this research report is to answer
the question whether exercise that does not require very much motivation
can lead to an increase in motivation afterwards. This experiment aims to
prove that a simple cardio workout before copying down written text will
increase motivation to write and therefore increase productivity.
Methodology
The experiment was conducted with the following procedure: One
trial consists of first, waking up and, within an hour eating a fixed breakfast,
of 1 glass of water, 2 eggs and a ½ cup of cooked rice (can be white or brown).
Within another hour of eating the subject copies down the poem “After the
Meal” by Bert Meyers as many times as possible within seven minutes. The
amount of copies written is noted to get c. c=(number of copies
written)+(number of lines written in last copy)/(number of lines total in
copied material). Once this is done, for the day the experiment is done until
waking the next day, where the meal is repeated and within an hour of eating
the subject does 1 minute of burpees, rests for 10 seconds, runs for 1 minute,
and rests for 50 seconds. Within an hour of this exercise, the subject will copy
down the poem “After the Meal” by Bert Meyers as many times as possible
within seven minutes. The amount of copies produced will be measured for
item c. This experiment will be done three times to amount to a six day
experiment.
Results and Analysis
Amount of copies of a written price a subject completes within 7 minutes after exercise.
Trial 1
c*
Trial 2
Trial 3
Average
Subject 1
Subject 2
Subject 3
control
2.3
46.4
1.1
experiment
2.9
38.8
1.5
control
2.9
35.2
1.3
experiment
2.8
40.3
1.2
control
2.7
26.1
**
experiment
3.0
38.0
control
2.6
35.9
1.2
experiment
2.9
39
1.4
*c = number of copies written, to one decimal
c=(number of copies written)+(number of lines written in last
copy)/(number of lines total in copied material)
**The third subject could not complete trial three due to health issues.
The purpose of graph 1 is to compare the amount of copies of a
written piece subjects can write in seven minutes before and after exercise.
The x axis represents the independent variable which is whether the subject
exercises before writing or not. The y axis represents the amount of copies
the subject can write in seven minutes. The blue color represents the control
test (Absence of exercise) and the red color represents the experimental test
(Exercise). The evidence in graph 1 shows an average difference between
experimental and controlled trials of 1.3c. According to graph 1, the average
copies written in the control test by each subject was 2.6c, 35.9c, and 1.2c
respectively while the average copies written in the experimental test by each
subject was 2.9c, 39c, and 1.4c respectively. The experimental test shows a
higher amount of copies written compared to the control test, with an
average difference of 1.3c The lowest recorded values for the control test
were 2.3c, 26.1c, and 1.1c for each subject respectively while the highest
recorded values were 2.7c, 46.4c, and 1.3c. On the other hand, the lowest
recorded value for the experimental test was 2.8c, 38c, and 1.2c while the
highest recorded values were 3c, 40.3c, and 1.5c. According to graph 1, the
range between the highest and the lowest recorded values of the control for
each subject was 0.4c, 20.3c, and 0.2c while the range between the highest
and lowest recorded values of the experimental test was 0.2c, 2.3c, and 0.1c. A
possible outlier in the control test is Subject 2, trian 1 (46.4c), which is 11.2c
higher than the second highest value. Every single control test had a higher
range of 0.4c, 20.3c, and 0.2c with a difference of 0.2c, 18c, and 0.1c. To
summarize, the amount of copies written increases with time during the
control and experimental test. However, the average copies written in the
experimental test is 0.3c, 3.1c, 0.2c more than the control test.
experimental text compared to the amount of copies written in the control
test. According to graph 2, the average time percent change between the
control and experimental tests was 13.1%. The lowest percent change value
is -16.4% and the highest is 44.2%, both from subject 2. The total range of
subject 1 was from -3.4% to 26.1%, a total range of 29.5%. The total range of
subject 2 was from -16.4% to 44.2%, a total range of 60.6%. Subject 3 had a
range from -7.7% to 36.4%, a total range of 44.1. To summarize, the percent
change between the experimental and control tests, whilst averaging in the
positives, is not as consistent as would be expected.
Discussion
The purpose of graph 2 is to compare the
percent change between the experimental and
controlled test with each trial and subject. The X axis
represents the trial and subject number. The Y axis
represents the effect the dependent variable had on the
subject (percent). The evidence in graph 2 shows that
there is indeed an inconsistent positive change in the
amount of copies the subject is able to write in the
This discussion will summarize itself, criticize the methodology and
variables and analyze each subject's performance and explain and draw
conclusions from the results seen. This experiment revealed that exercising
before writing can inconsistently improve the speed of the writing process.
The independent variable, c, that is a derived unit is meant to represent the
motivation of the subject; however this representation may be flawed
because there are many factors that can go into the speed of one’s writing.
This can include using shorthand or note taking techniques that can greatly
affect the speed of writing as seen in subject 2. There are hundreds of factors
that can affect this as well, such as discomfort or pain, sobriety, temperature,
etc however for the pretenses of the discussion this will be ignored and the
results will be analyzed as if they are representative of motivation. In the
abstract this report hypothesized that exercising before any task, will
increase motivation. Under the assumption that c is a perfect representation
of motivation, this is true. Indeed the subjects, combined, increased the
amount of copies written by 13.1% compared to the control test. Subject 1,
copying the poem for the first time did do so
slower than all other trials, possibly due to
unfamiliarity. Even excluding the first
control test, the experimental and control
test have the same range of 0.2c, however
the experimental results are on average, higher than the control test by 0.1c.
This may seem to be an insignificant change, however over a long period of
time the results may be more visible. For context, subject 1 is 15 years of age,
male and has no known conditions. Subject 2
has a strange dataset, however it can be
explained possibly, by looking at the subjects
background. Subject 2 is male, approximately
25 to 30 years of age and is a recovering
opioids addict, and alcoholic to the point of
daily drinking. The control test of subject 2 is
all over the place and has a range from 46.4c
to 26.1c. However the experimental range
was a lot more precise, being only from 40.3c to 38c. This could be a sign that
exercise can take part in making motivation more consistent. Relating the
previous points, those who have abused substances may find more consistent
motivation after exercise. On average, subject 2 was able to write 3.1 copies
more in the experimental test than the control test. Subject 3 unfortunately
could not complete the third trial of the
experiment. Subject 3 is a male, 15 who
has very mild ADHD, however the results
from subject 3, in practice not helpful as,
with only 2 trials no conclusive evidence
can be drawn from this subject. Even
though, on average the subject had written
more coppipes in the experimental test
than the control test, with only 2 data
points each an outlier, though none
suspected could have snuck its way into the results and end up making the
conclusion more confusing.
What is to be taken away from the research report? First of all that
everyone is extremely different and that there are too many factors to list that
can affect a person’s motivation. This research report proves that light
exercise before a task has a possibility of increasing motivation in that task.
This means that it is likely beneficial to spend time exercising before working
if the reader has issues with motivation or is recovering from drug abuse.
Citations
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