Does laziness' start in the brain?

Apathy may not be a choice-but there are scientific ways to boost your motivation

- Masud Husain

We all know people with very different levels of motivation.

Some will go the extra mile in any endeavour. Others just can’t be bothered to put the effort in. Most of us would probably attribute it to a mixture of temperament, circumstances, upbringing or even values.

But research in neuroscience and in patients with brain disorders is challenging these assumptions by revealing the brain mechanisms that underlie motivation. When these systems become dysfunctional, people who were once motivated can become pathologically apathetic.

For example, in my clinic, I saw a young man called David who had been a high-flier in his firm but suddenly lost interest in his job as well as the people around him. Previously, he’d been a productive and outgoing person, but now David did very little and didn’t seem to care. As he put it, he “just couldn’t be arsed”. His GP tried him on an antidepressant, but it had no effect.

David wasn’t depressed, in fact he was quite happy. After looking deeper into his case, we discovered that the cause was actually two tiny strokes, one on each side of the brain. These were located in the basal ganglia, nuclei that are crucial for motivated behaviour. Research in animals and humans has shown that the basal ganglia connect our needs and wants to actions.