In the 1980s, a biochemist (and enthusiastic marathon runner) at the University of Oxford, Eric Newsholme, proposed that fatigue during endurance exercise might result in part from changes in the concentration of neurotransmitters in the brain.30 That hypothesis didn’t pan out, but it led to string of studies testing the effects of various brain-altering drugs on endurance: Paxil, Prozac, Celexa, Effexor, Wellbutrin, Ritalin, and others. Under normal conditions, the drugs had minimal effects; but in hot conditions, drugs that increased concentrations of the neurotransmitter dopamine in the
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