What is the reason you feel mentally drained after performing a mentally taxing activity such as sitting for a difficult exam?
In: Biology
You brain is not just nerves firing. It’s a list very complex and very sensitive chemical reactions.
If your muscle runs out of juice it gets tired. It’s the same for the brain. The best way to recover is sleep, but menial tasks and relaxing also work.
the feeling of being mentally drained typically is the result of stress. If you were doing that same exam for fun, you probably wouldn’t experience the same feelings or at least not as bad.
ELI5 would be it’s your brains way of forcing you not to take on any more stressful things for a while. A defense mechanism.
Your brain is the most calorie expending organ. At rest it uses 20% of your overall calorie burn.
It gets drained as much as or even more as any other organ after exertion.
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