Although mental effort is a frequently used term, it is poorly defined and understood. Consequently, its usage is frequently loose and potentially misleading. In neuroscience research, the term is used to mean both the cognitive work that is done to meet task demands and the subjective experience of performing that work. We argue that conflating these two meanings hampers progress in understanding cognitive impairments in neuropsychiatric conditions because cognitive work and the subjective experience of it have distinct underlying mechanisms. We suggest that the most coherent and clinically useful perspective on mental effort is that it is a subjective experience. This makes a clear distinction between cognitive impairments that arise from changes in the cognitive apparatus, as in dementia and brain injury, and those that arise from subjective difficulties in carrying out the cognitive work, as in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, depression, and other motivational disorders. We review recent advances in neuroscience research that suggests that the experience of effort has emerged to control task switches so as to minimize costs relative to benefits. We consider how these advances can contribute to our understanding of the experience of increased effort perception in clinical populations. This more specific framing of mental effort will offer a deeper understanding of the mechanisms of cognitive impairments in differing clinical groups and will ultimately facilitate better therapeutic interventions.

中文翻译：

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什么是脑力劳动：临床视角

尽管脑力努力是一个经常使用的术语，但它的定义和理解却很差。因此，它的使用经常是松散的，并且可能会产生误导。在神经科学研究中，该术语既指为满足任务需求而进行的认知工作，也指执行该工作的主观体验。我们认为，将这两种含义混为一谈会阻碍对神经精神疾病认知障碍的理解，因为认知工作及其主观体验具有不同的潜在机制。我们认为，关于精神努力最连贯且在临床上最有用的观点是，它是一种主观体验。这清楚地区分了由认知器官变化引起的认知障碍，如痴呆和脑损伤，以及因执行认知工作的主观困难而引起的认知障碍，如注意力缺陷/多动障碍、抑郁症和抑郁症。其他动机障碍。我们回顾了神经科学研究的最新进展，这些进展表明，已经出现了控制任务切换的努力经验，以最大限度地降低相对于收益的成本。我们考虑这些进步如何有助于我们理解临床人群中努力感知增加的体验。这种更具体的精神努力框架将使人们更深入地了解不同临床群体的认知障碍机制，并最终促进更好的治疗干预。