Chicken or Egg? AI, Brain Strain, and the Burnout Spiral
There’s a growing concern in the air — and now, it’s getting a face.
Recent research, like the article in the Sydney Morning Herald, shows fMRI scans suggesting structural brain changes in people working 55+ hours a week. Eye-catching stuff.
But let’s pause and look closer.
At the same time, we’re seeing a surge in AI adoption in the workplace, automating low-cognitive, repetitive tasks.
On the surface, it sounds like a win. But it’s creating a hidden pressure point:
AI strips away the simple tasks, leaving people operating at 90%+ high-cognitive load - all day.
That’s unsustainable. Our brains need watercooler chats, admin drifts, to-do-list tick-offs, and even inbox-triaging to decompress.
Combine that with increased workloads, job insecurity, and the pressure to “keep up,” and we’ve got a perfect storm brewing.
Burnout isn’t just about too much work anymore — it’s about too much intensity, for too long, with too little recovery.
What the Brain Scans Don’t Tell Us
While fMRI scans show changes in the brain under strain, they’re just snapshots; still images of a moving system.
Which raises the real question:
Did long hours cause the brain changes? Or were these individuals predisposed, emotionally or neurologically, to push themselves harder, longer, faster?
We saw the same conundrum in PTSD studies on veterans. Were the brain differences the result of trauma, or indicators of susceptibility before trauma even occurred?
Chicken? Or egg?
What We Can Know Without a Scan
In my work with high-performing teams, the signs are there well before the grey matter starts to shift:
Mental fog and decision fatigue
Emotional disconnection
Frustration, rumination, and withdrawal
The slow erosion of team cohesion and trust
These are the real early warning signs.
Better Answers Start with Better Questions
Instead of waiting for scans or stats, we need to ask:
How much recovery time do your teams get mentally, not just physically?
Are they operating in an emotional climate that fuels creativity, or drains it?
Are leaders creating a space where people can speak up before they break down?
That’s the work I do with teams every day.
If you’d like to talk about how to reduce emotional and cognitive strain in your team — and lift performance while doing it — let’s connect.
Feel free to forward this to someone who needs to hear it.
Because maybe it’s not about what fMRI can prove. Maybe it’s about what we already know… and choose to act on.
