What part of the brain is for friction and doing hard things?

The anterior mid-cingulate cortex (aMCC) is involved in meeting friction—leaning into difficult challenges and persisting through things you would rather avoid. 1

1. Challenging activities may stimulate and grow it: Safe tasks that feel uncomfortable and require overcoming resistance are associated with increased aMCC activity and growth. 2
2. Examples: Physical challenges, learning a language, and having a difficult conversation you have been putting off can all provide that kind of challenge. 3
3. Cognitive function with age: People described as “super-agers” maintain cognitive function, and their aMCC is associated with not atrophying; the relationship is described as a correlation. 4