Short Wave

The neuroscience of cracking under pressure

February 18, 2026

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  • Fatigue, whether cognitive or physical, arises from brain areas sensing internal state interacting with motivational areas, signaling the inability to produce more effort. 
  • Reward acts as a counter-force to the cost of effort; a boost in perceived reward can motivate individuals to overcome fatigue and perform beyond their usual limits, explaining peak Olympic performances. 
  • Choking under pressure occurs when high incentives are reframed as potential losses, activating worry signals in the ventral striatum that interfere with motor control signals, but this can be mitigated through cognitive reframing to focus on the 'portfolio' of tasks rather than single-trial outcomes. 

Segments

Introduction to Pressure and Rewards
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(00:00:30)
  • Key Takeaway: Human activities, from Olympic competition to daily tasks, are fundamentally driven by subjective reward systems.
  • Summary: The 2026 Winter Olympics context highlights the extreme pressure athletes face while competing globally. The host notes that pressure is subjective, meaning everyday activities can feel as stressful as an Olympian’s gold medal event. Vikram Chib’s research confirms that reward is integral to nearly all human actions, regardless of the stakes.
Brain Response to Fatigue
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(00:03:35)
  • Key Takeaway: Fatigue is signaled when brain areas sensing internal state interact with motivational areas, indicating the limit of cognitive or physical output.
  • Summary: Fatigue manifests as a shutdown signal when the brain senses it cannot produce further effort, covering both cognitive tasks like spreadsheet work and physical exertion. Offering a small reward can counteract this fatigue by boosting motivation, suggesting effort is a trade-off between cost and reward.
Reward Overcoming Fatigue
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(00:05:42)
  • Key Takeaway: The anticipation of a high reward, like an Olympic gold medal, can push athletes beyond their established physical limits.
  • Summary: Olympic records are frequently broken because the added incentive of the gold medal pushes athletes past the limits they demonstrate in regular World Cup events. This suggests that a significant, immediate reward can motivate a temporary, ‘superhuman’ level of performance by overriding fatigue signals.
Neuroscience of Choking Under Pressure
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(00:06:23)
  • Key Takeaway: Choking occurs when high incentives are reframed as potential losses, causing worry signals in the ventral striatum to interfere with motor control.
  • Summary: In lab settings using monetary incentives, performance decreased when the potential reward reached $100, indicating choking. The ventral striatum, responsible for reward processing, activates for high rewards but deactivates for potential losses; high incentive earners worried about losing the money, linking this loss-aversion worry to performance decline.
Brain Regions in Performance
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(00:09:42)
  • Key Takeaway: Performance involves coordination between reward processing areas (ventral striatum, prefrontal cortex) and motor areas (motor cortex, cerebellum).
  • Summary: Reward processing areas like the ventral striatum and prefrontal cortex activate under high reward conditions. Motor areas, including the motor cortex and cerebellum, are crucial for physical execution, while cognitive areas like working memory regions are taxed by strategy-heavy sports like curling.
Impact of Social Attention
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(00:10:52)
  • Key Takeaway: Social approval acts as an incentive, where moderate attention enhances performance, but massive attention can induce choking similar to high monetary stakes.
  • Summary: Having a few people watch can boost performance, as social approval functions as a positive incentive. However, when the crowd size and social incentive become extremely high, this intense attention can lead to performance degradation, mirroring the effects of overwhelming monetary rewards.
Cognitive Reframing for Better Performance
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(00:12:23)
  • Key Takeaway: Reframing a high-stakes event as part of a larger portfolio of tasks reduces focus on immediate loss and improves performance under pressure.
  • Summary: Cognitive reframing is an actionable technique to overcome choking behavior observed in the lab. By focusing on the big picture—like viewing a presentation as one of many over the year—individuals decrease myopic worry about single failures. This shift reduces brain activity associated with the fear of losing the incentive.