Have you ever thought about why hard thinking makes you feel exhausted?
According to researchers at Pitié-Salpêtrière University in Paris, when you spend extended periods of time engaging in mentally draining activities, you trigger the build up of a chemical waste product known as glutamate in the prefrontal cortex of your brain. Glutamate is a natural amino acid but at higher levels interferes brain functioning.
Now, the prefrontal cortex is a special area located at the front of your brain that helps control decision-making. So when glutamate builds up it obstructs thought processes, whereby an individual starts losing focus on a task and instead their attention is redirected to something less tiring.
This is the brain’s way of signalling that there is an immediate need to get rid of this chemical product which has built up because of intense mental activity.
So studies have found that glutamate is removed from the brain by simply sleeping, so in any case sleeping is the best medicine for relaxation.