The Chemical Discovery

In the early 1970s, American life was accelerating. Skyscrapers rose in cities. Factories produced endless consumer goods. A new technology called the computer began entering homes and offices. Television offered ten channels. Ten seemed like abundance.

While prosperity expanded, something else grew quietly alongside it. Prescriptions for psychiatric medications increased. People reported feeling exhausted despite adequate sleep. A vague malaise spread through the population that no one could explain.

A neuroscientist named John Olney noticed.

Olney was researching how the brain responds to modern conditions. His work led him to a discovery that would change our understanding of mental fatigue. He introduced a concept called excitotoxicity and brought public attention to a neurotransmitter called glutamate.

Glutamate is the brain's primary signaling chemical. Nearly every decision you make, every perception you process, every memory you form involves glutamate transmission between neurons. It is essential for consciousness itself.

But Olney discovered something troubling. In excess, glutamate does not merely slow the brain. It damages it.

The very chemical that enables thought can poison the system that produces it. When glutamate accumulates beyond the brain's capacity to clear it, neural connections begin to malfunction. Signals misfire. Fatigue sets in. Over time, the damage compounds.

Our ancestors had a saying. Too much of anything is harmful. Olney had found the neurochemical proof.

The brain evolved for a simpler world. Our neural architecture developed over hundreds of thousands of years when daily decisions were few. Wake. Stay warm. Find food. Avoid predators. Rest.

The glutamate system was calibrated for that life. Not for this one.

In the 1970s, Olney saw the beginning of a mismatch between human biology and human society. The brain's ancient chemistry was being overwhelmed by modern demands.

He tried to warn us.