Introduction. The formation of emotional burnout and cognitive impairments due to the stressful effects of the professional environment in medical professionals may be accompanied by a decrease in adaptive abilities and a restructuring of metabolism in the central nervous system.

The study aims to identify the features of cerebral energy metabolism and cognitive functions in secondary medical personnel (SMP), depending on the stage of burnout formation.

Materials and methods. 36 SMP women were examined. Methods of neuroenergic mapping and neuropsychological diagnostics were used.

Results. In individuals with SMP, when compared with the comparison group, the most vulnerable cognitive functions were identified: long-term memory (1.2(0–1,6), points and 0.0(0–1) points at p=0.001, respectively), expressive speech (1.0(0–1,0), points and 0.0(0–1,0), points at p=0.0002, respectively). The disorder of impressive speech (explanation of logical and grammatical constructions) is combined with a violation of cerebral energy metabolism under functional stress, determining the possible importance of the functions of the complex of parietal structures in coordinating adaptation mechanisms. There is a relationship between the formed depletion phase and the level of constant potential (LCP) in the frontal (rs=–0.34 p=0.038) and left central (rs=–0.34 p=0.037) brain regions, as well as an inadequate post-stress change in cerebral energy metabolism during hyperventilation, the post-hyperventilation period, and the rapid verbal response test (rs=–0.34 p=0.038; rs=–0.34 p=0.037; rs=–0.39 p=0.018; rs=–0.37 p=0.025; rs=–0.36 p=0.03, respectively), characterizing a violation of neurovegetative status reactions in the formed Exhaustion phase.

Limitations. The study is limited to a sample of individuals from the same professional group, and the lack of clinical and psychological characteristics of the surveyed.

Conclusion. The dynamics of LCP characteristics during functional afferent tests is accompanied by a change in the indicator characterizing impressive speech, which determines the vulnerability of the overlap zone of the tertiary fields of the temporal, parietal and occipital cortex of the left hemisphere of the brain in case of impaired adaptation while maintaining internal homeostasis in SMP. The established relationship between the severity of burnout syndrome, the level of permanent potential, adaptive capabilities of brain reactions and neuropsychological indicators in people with primary health care has suggested that impaired adaptation to stress in SMP will play a key role in the formation of possible professionally caused diseases and cognitive dysfunction.

Ethics. The examination of patients was conducted in accordance with the ethical standard of the Helsinki Declaration of the World Medical Association "Ethical principles of conducting scientific medical research with human participation". All the surveyed signed an informed consent to participate in the study. There is a conclusion of the Local Ethics Committee of the East-Siberian Institute of Medical and Ecological Research (Protocol No. 5 dated 03/21/2023).

Contributions:Shevchenko O.I. — concept and design of research, collection and processing of material and writing of text, editing;Kuleshova M.V. — concept and design of research, collection and processing of material, writing, editing;Lakhman O.L. — editing;Pankov V.A. — editing.All authors — responsibility for the integrity of all parts of the manuscript and approval of the final version of the manuscript.

Funding. The funding was provided as part of the State Assignment for Basic Scientific Research.

Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Received: 26.05.2025 /Accepted: 16.06.2025 / Published: 05.08.2025