Expectation and the Central Governor Theory

I'm usually happy when I find something about the Central Governor Theory mentioned in everyday life. Much to my delight, this morning's online The New York Times happily obliged.

The article discusses two studies which consider the role that expectations have on athletic performance during competitive events. In short, the results suggests that endurance athletes can push themselves slightly harder in competition when they believe their best effort matches the person (or in this case, Avatar) that they're racing.

Interestingly, while competition has the ability to bring out slightly higher efforts in athletes (a modest 1% increase in speed), other motivations--such as money--did not have this effect.

The implications for such research are interesting, and as the author of the article suggests, could provide further evidence to Dr. Tim Noakes' Central Governor Theory, which states that athletic performance is determined not by the amount of oxygen (or lack thereof) in the working muscles, but by a "central governor" in the brain that calculates the amount of exertion the body can make without destroying itself.

One potential difficulty that I see in attributing the effect described above to the Central Governor Theory is the role that the conscious brain seems to plays in producing the 1% increase in speed. By definition, Noakes' theory relies on the calculation of the sub-conscious brain to determine how hard the body can actually be pushed. Yet in the studies mentioned above, the participating riders were informed that the Avatar they would be racing would match their best effort from previous time-trials. So while the information the riders received was inaccurate, the result of the expectations which that information produced was a harder effort than ordinary circumstances (i.e. a time-trial) had previously allowed. Is there then a conscious element of the Central Governor?

As previously mentioned, other consciously-understood motivators, such as money, failed to produce an increase in effort. So it seems there's more to it then your conscious mind simply telling you to go faster than your Governor is willing to allow. Yet perhaps there is something to the notion that belief in your abilities, under the right circumstances, can produce a measurable result. If you're in a race, see someone ahead, and think "that person is going at my best effort, and I should be able to match it," then perhaps it is possible that the 1% increase in speed could be produced.

What might we learn from this? First, it seems that certain types of expectations have the power to alter, however modestly, the ordinary limits imposed on the body. Again, the effect is modest, but it is measurable. Second, it would appear that will alone does not have a comparable effect; the thought of some extrinsic reward does not appear to have the power to push the Central Governor beyond its imposed limits.

So perhaps there is something inherent in expectations that bridges the conscious and sub-conscious minds. In either case, it would seem wise to also remember that great expectations are not always fulfilled. Something to consider.