The brain has around 86 billion neurons and nearly a quadrillion synapses. Each synapse works like a molecular switch.

Brains are frequently compared to computers. And they share a lot of similarities with data centers.

Fun fact: Data centers consume up to 50 times more energy than a typical office building per square foot.

The brain has the same kind of massive appetite for energy.

Even though the brain accounts for 2 percent of the body’s weight, it uses 20 percent of the body’s energy. (In comparison, the heart consumes about 5 percent of the body’s energy.)

This massive energy use helps provide a foundation for understanding the relationship between brain injury and fatigue.

After a concussion, the brain operates less efficiently than it did before it was injured. Inefficiency means cognitive functions like attention, memory, and processing require increased effort (and energy consumption). As a result, the brain fatigues more easily.

Sometimes concussions occur in isolation. But usually there are additional injuries (like neck and back). So, after a concussion, the brain is frequently competing with symptoms like headaches, dizziness, and sleep disturbances that also run down energy reserves.

Our internal data centers consume a huge amount of energy even in the best of times. Inefficiencies and the other symptoms significantly increase energy consumption. Increased demands quickly lead to cognitive fatigue.

Cognitive fatigue is frequently a lot bigger issue for people (post-concussively) than cognitive inability. Most people are able to do the same types of things they could before the injury (albeit with greater effort). But they can’t do them for the same duration they could before their brains were injured.

All of this really calls into question the weight that should be given to evidence we frequently see from the defense. Things like the defense neurologist’s observations that our client had no trouble answering questions during a 15 minute interview, or a defense neuropsychologist testifying that our client did well on three hours of neuropsychological testing ring hollow when the problem is endurance versus performance.

Maybe your EV does everything it’s supposed to for the first 100 miles. But instead of providing 400 miles of range, it conks out at 200 miles. Assessing its performance when fully charged provides no insights about the reduced battery capacity.