Mind Performance Hacks

Hack #72. Overclock Your Brain

In some situations, the brain is performance-limited by the available fuel. Increase the fuel and you can temporarily get a performance boost.

The brain is one of the most energy-hungry of the human organs. Despite making up only about 2% of the average body weight, it uses almost 20% of the normal intake of energy. Although the brain comprises mostly fat, this is mainly used to protect and insulate brain cells and is not available as an energy store. It therefore relies on the rest of the body to provide it with a supply of energy, which consists almost entirely of glucose. The brain uses up its own glucose supplies in about 5–10 minutes if they are not replenished, meaning it is particularly sensitive to changes in blood glucose levels.

As part of this process, oxygen is also needed and is another essential component of the brain's fuel supply. Oxygen is used as part of glucose metabolism to provide brain cells with a number of important chemicals that allow them to support themselves and communicate with other neurons.

Mental performance relies on the functioning of the brain, and like with any other organ, this performance is linked to how many resources are available. Research has shown that in some instances, mental performance is rate-limited by the available glucose and oxygen. In other words, you can increase the rate of mental processing by increasing the available fuel.

It turns out that this effect is not global, and it typically affects ...