Die Grundausbildung der Armee scheint umzugestalten, wie die Gehirnprozesse belohnen. Der Stress, der während des grundlegenden Kampftrainings erlebt wird, kann die Fähigkeit des Gehirns dämpfen, auf lohnende Ergebnisse zu reagieren.
Army basic training appears to reshape how the brain processes reward
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I’ve linked to the news release in the post above. In this comment, for those interested, here’s the link to the peer reviewed journal article:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2451902225001661
From the linked article:
**Army basic training appears to reshape how the brain processes reward**
A new study published in Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging suggests that **stress experienced during basic combat training may dampen the brain’s ability to respond to rewarding outcomes**. Researchers found that Army National Guard recruits showed a measurable decline in neural signals linked to reward processing after completing a physically and emotionally demanding 10-week training program. The findings suggest that real-world stressors can influence how the brain processes both positive and negative feedback, with potential implications for resilience and mental health.
So it breaks people’s brainy brains?
That’s an interesting article. I went through basic training in 1999 for 12 weeks, not in America, så possibly a difference there.
The first two weeks were rather confusing; stand like this, speak like this, learn fast.
I will say, that after a few weeks, if we did something right, and were rewarded, the reward felt like gold dust on our shoulders. Hot food, a longer break, sleep was great!
So would this play a part into why a lot of military people use nicotine?
Same with doing a difficult college or professional degree.
As someone that went through basic, I’m not surprised. I wonder if this sort of research could accurately predict how people would do in even more stressful training. Realistically, I know I was never at a point where I had the physical and mental stamina to pass something like the Q course. It’d be fascinating to have more visibility in to the people that are just „wired“ differently.
Does dampening the reward system in the brain help with compulsion / control? That might actually be a desired outcome of the training, most „discipline“ at least in part requires some resistance to seeking immediate gratification, which I Imagine is easier if your over all reward response system is somewhat dampened. This is just an initial thought based on the articles title, and not really a well thought out conclusion based on a detailed reading of the paper.
I wonder how much of the effects are due to the type of folks who join the army.
My time in the Army…. None of us came from a healthy background. Joining was a better option than staying in those situations, so given the poverty and or abused backgrounds I suspect that skews the stress response results quite a bit.
I’m curious now if something similar happens to physicians going through residency training.
This is definitely not a bad thing.
If you think about it in any depth
The situation is that your brain still acknowledges the achievement but is ready to move onto the next one. Hooahhh!