Calories burned by using your brain?

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82EC
82EC Posts: 123 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Just wondering if using your brain to do something mentally taxing burns more calories than just watching tv? Strikes me that it should but I have never read this anywhere- any ideas?

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  • Lillymoo01
    Lillymoo01 Posts: 2,865 Member
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    Reading burns more calories than watching TV so I'd guess that mentally taxing tasks would burn even more than reading.
  • GaleHawkins
    GaleHawkins Posts: 8,160 Member
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    I have heard running the brain burns 20% of our total energy usage but do not know if thinking burns more than not thinking.
  • suziecue25
    suziecue25 Posts: 289 Member
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    Well Albert Einstein didn't waste away :#
  • hypocacculus
    hypocacculus Posts: 68 Member
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    Apparently our brain is one of our most metabolically expensive organs, accounting for 20% of our resting metabolic calorie use. Unfortunately though, it seems that thinking hard doesn't change calorie uptake much, even though it might feel like it does!

    A nice article in Scientific American here: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/thinking-hard-calories/

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,437 Member
    edited February 2019
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    Not enough to worry about. The silly little suckers sit there in our craniums revving themselves over every little perturbation of sight, smell, sound, taste, touch-sense, body orientation; plus operate and check on all the other body bits.

    They're busy every nanosecond, always, even when we're asleep. We just don't notice because we're not paying attention. (They're even busy creating that inattentive "we".)
  • magnusthenerd
    magnusthenerd Posts: 1,207 Member
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    I think thermal constraints limit thought from chewing through too many calories.
  • GaleHawkins
    GaleHawkins Posts: 8,160 Member
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    https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/thinking-hard-calories/
  • 1BlueAurora
    1BlueAurora Posts: 439 Member
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    Well, it's not enough apparently for MFP to have that as a calorie burning exercise. But TV watching isn't either. And TV watching sometimes leads to mindless snacking, so there's that. Good question, though.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,970 Member
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    hypocacculus wrote: »
    Apparently our brain is one of our most metabolically expensive organs, accounting for 20% of our resting metabolic calorie use. Unfortunately though, it seems that thinking hard doesn't change calorie uptake much, even though it might feel like it does!

    A nice article in Scientific American here: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/thinking-hard-calories/

    Sure but your brain is constantly busy regulating all kinds of systems in your body. In computer terms you'd call it a bunch of always on background processes. Takes a lot of energy to run, just longer on your phone.
  • OCDOD
    OCDOD Posts: 21 Member
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    This must be why when I study I get sooooooo hungry.
  • jlynnm70
    jlynnm70 Posts: 460 Member
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    I don't know. If I had a long taxing, thought filled day at work I know I'm exhausted....would be nice to think it was burning calories...but not betting on it
  • azzeazsaleh5429
    azzeazsaleh5429 Posts: 77 Member
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    600-700
  • fishgutzy
    fishgutzy Posts: 2,807 Member
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    Lillymoo01 wrote: »
    Reading burns more calories than watching TV so I'd guess that mentally taxing tasks would burn even more than reading.

    When I drive the 800+ miles to Massachusetts I burn a lot. Yet it feels like I'm just sitting.
    The most inactive high burn rate activity I have ever done.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,024 Member
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    azzeazsaleh5429 wrote: »
    600-700

    Over a 10 year period. ;)

    Maybe.

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