Pain on the brain: Thinking too hard can actually hurt, a new study says

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You really can think so hard about something that it hurts, according to a new study.

The American Psychological Association recently published new research proving that mental exertion leads to negative feelings and irritation.

The study was published Monday in the APA's monthly journal, Psychological Bulletin.

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Data collected from a wide variety of professions across 29 countries shows that mental efforts can be seen as aversive, and that unpleasantness appears to apply to specific populations with certain characteristics. Painful thinking seemed to have less effect on those in Asian countries than other populations.

A woman, sitting on a couch, appears to be deep in thought. (BSIP/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

The study, titled "The unpleasantness of thinking: A meta-analytic review of the association between mental effort and negative affect," meta-analyzed 170 studies to draw its conclusions.

The studies were conducted from 125 articles published from 2019 to 2020, and involved 4,670 unique subjects.

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The results proved a strong positive association between mental effort and "negative affect." However, this could vary depending on the type of task and the feedback received.

Additionally, whether the subject had completed a college education or not also affected results.

A frustrated businesswoman having headache and crumpling paper

The professions studied, including healthcare workers, military employees, amateur athletes and college students, featured a variety of vocations.

The 358 tasks studied varied in their perceived mental effort. Across all participants and all tasks, the greater the mental effort, the greater the unpleasantness.

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The study concludes that employers and education professionals find it "sensible to support or reward" students and employees engaged in mentally difficult tasks.