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Rethinking fatigue: Feeling tired vs. being physically depleted

A study suggests that perception of fatigue differs from physical fatigue, and this difference could lead to better treatments

By
May 4, 2023 at 10:22 a.m. EDT
A photo illustration with a brain scan in the background, with a torn photo of a woman covering her face on top of it. There are two red dots and a line that connect the woman's forehead and the cerebellum area of the brain scan.
Feeling less fatigued may lead to worse performance, a new study suggests. (Washington Post illustration; iStock)
6 min

Fatigue affects the health and quality of life for many people, but there are few effective treatments for it, experts say.

Now new research suggests that redefining fatigue, and understanding how a brain region known as the cerebellum processes fatigue, may hold clues for better treatment.

Research by Pablo Celnik and his colleagues at Johns Hopkins University shows that performance fatigue, also known as “fatigability” — an objective measurement of a person’s ability to do a physical or cognitive task — can be different from the perception of fatigue — a person’s subjective assessment of the fatigue they feel.