The Brain at Night: Why is it so Loud?

After a long day, one thing people look forward to is getting a good night's rest, but it seems that right when your head hits the pillow your brain seems to want the opposite. You start to dwell on earlier events in the day, think about an awkward situation you may have encountered, or perhaps even think of a memory from the past. These thoughts then become impossible to ignore. Experiencing this, we often ask, “Why is my brain choosing the worst possible time to be doing this?” and the answer is much simpler than you may think

Our brains do this since it is the first moment of the day when it has the space and capacity to even think about the little things. A system apart of the mind called the “default mode network” comes alive and tends to be more active. This allows for self-reflection, thinking about the past and future, and also initiates daydreaming. It is a way for your mind to process everything that it may not have had the chance to do earlier.

During the day, your brain is rapidly trying to process everything around you and it does not have the time to fully go through how you may feel or what your thoughts may be. These feelings and thoughts then get pushed aside since they do not seem to be important or necessary to focus on because there are so many things to do throughout the day. When finally allowing your mind to rest it then goes into processing mode where the hippocampus, the part of your brain playing a role in memory, starts to break down your day in a way that is organized and understandable. By replaying moments in your mind, the brain tries to fill in the puzzle pieces that felt unfinished. This even explains why memories from far back may resurface since you think about the small things that happen throughout your day, which leads to thoughts and memories you may not have thought of in months or even years.

During nighttime, our thoughts can also feel more intense or feel as if there are more emotions attached to them. This is because of the amygdala, when processing certain emotions like fear or embarrassment tends to become more enhanced, which leads you to think they are more important in a social situation than they actually are. This then leads the prefrontal cortex to try and reverse those feelings and thoughts by calming you down and allowing you to think more on the logical side instead of being crowded with emotions and thoughts that can be confusing. When the sounds of the day have come to an end, your thoughts now do not have anything to compete with. This creates an emphasis on them and can be hard to ignore. Not every thought has to be solved, but it is just what your brain is designed to do naturally by organizing, processing, and preparing you for the next day and beyond.