Determinants of motivated behavior are linked to fatigue and its perturbation by SARS-CoV-2 vaccination

Background Fatigue has an adaptive function and serves as a temporary signal to rest and save energy often in response to immune activation. It may, however, also persist in a pathological condition incurring significant burden. While subjective symptoms and scientific consensus indicate that both physical and mental determinants of motivated behavior are affected in fatigue, the underlying processes are rarely examined using objective, task-based indicators.

Methods In three consecutive studies, including validation (N = 48) and reliability assessments (N = 27), we use an experimental task to jointly objectify reward learning and effort execution as two determinants of behavioral motivation. In addition, we tested how fatigue and its acute perturbation in response to immune activation after SARS-CoV-2 vaccination are linked to these task-based indicators of motivation in a longitudinal cross-over design (N = 55).

Results The validation study showed the utility of the experimental task for simultaneously assessing learning, effort exertion, and its regulation based on subjective confidence. The reliability assessment over a one-week period indicated that symptoms of fatigue and task behavior are highly reliable and that repetition effects have little impact on motivated behavior. Finally, in the vaccination trial, we found significant links between fatigue and task behavior. Baseline levels of fatigue predicted how effort is gauged in dependence of current confidence about reward outcomes, and state perturbations of fatigue in the context of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccination reduced confidence during learning. Importantly, task success was significantly lower in subjects who reported high fatigue at baseline and who additionally experienced stronger increase in fatigue in response to vaccination.

Discussion Our results demonstrate that the experimental task allows to jointly assess determinants of motivated behavior, and to link its constituent processes to subjective fatigue. This suggests that our understanding of fatigue and its perturbation due to acute immune activation can benefit from objective, task-based indicators of the underlying motivational mechanisms. Future studies could build on these findings to further deepen the understanding of neurobehavioral mechanisms underlying fatigue in the context of immune activation.