Motivation is affected by oxidative stress, nutrition can help

Motivation is affected by oxidative stress in the brain, a study by EPFL and Nestlé shows. The findings also suggest motivation can be improved through nutritional interventions. In life, motivation can be the difference between success and failure, goal-setting and aimlessness, well-being and unhappiness. And yet, becoming and staying motivated is often the hardest step, a problem which has prompted much research. A very small part of that research has looked into the question of metabolism. "Do differences in metabolites in the brain affect our capacity for motivation?" asks Professor Carmen Sandi at EPFL's School of Life Sciences. "If that is the case, could nutritional interventions that can affect metabolite levels be an effective vehicle to improve motivated performance?" Sandi's group, with their colleagues at the Nestlé Institute of Health Sciences, have now published a study that shines the first light into answering that question.