Why Do We Sleep? The Mystery of Slumber
Why do we sleep? For many years researchers thought that the
brain lapsed from wakefulness because of a lack of sensory stimulation.
They saw sleep as a passive phenomenon during which major elements of
the brain rested: the cerebral cortex, site of thought, speech,
planning, and other high functions; the cerebellum, which coordinates
our movements; the visual cortex, which processes neural signals from
the eyes into images.
Experiments in early times suggested that the brain itself actively generates sleep. When certain areas of the brain are stimulated by an electric current, sleep ensued. The discovery of rapid eye movement while sleeping gave the scientist further evidence of what we call "Sleep-active brain".
Though now, in present time it is agreed that sleep is an active phenomenon influenced by particular neurons. Neurons communicate with one another through a chemical called neurotransmitters. READING this sentence alone requires MILLIONS of interaction.
There are different reasons to sleep. here are the top four reasons.
TO REST- Sleeping might also be the time for our brain to do a little housekeeping. As we learn new things throughout the day, we are constantly generating and adding new synapses, a junction between two nerve cells, consisting of a minute gap across which impulses pass by diffusion of a neurotransmitter. But our head/ skull have limited storage capabilities, that's why bedtime might be the time synapses are cleaned out. Think of our brain as a computer that needs defragmentation.
TO HEAL- Sleeping allows our body to heal. studies shows that people with less sleep actually have lesser cell regeneration. Sleep also heals our mental ailments like stress and depression. Think of sleep as a fuel, that burns when we are awake.
TO LEARN- During our daily nap. our brain might be replaying the events of the day. reinforcing memory and learning. Studies shows that when we are sleeping we are reliving the events of the day. It also helps and improve memory.
TO DREAM- sleeping allows us to enter into the magical world of dreams. Although I'm not quite sure why we dream, all I know is that it makes sleeping unique.
Although science have uncover the mysteries of sleeping, it isn't enough to answer our question on "Why do we sleep?" Guess there's more work for them scientist. But one thing is for sure, Our future looks promising and will be worth staying awake
.
Experiments in early times suggested that the brain itself actively generates sleep. When certain areas of the brain are stimulated by an electric current, sleep ensued. The discovery of rapid eye movement while sleeping gave the scientist further evidence of what we call "Sleep-active brain".
Though now, in present time it is agreed that sleep is an active phenomenon influenced by particular neurons. Neurons communicate with one another through a chemical called neurotransmitters. READING this sentence alone requires MILLIONS of interaction.
There are different reasons to sleep. here are the top four reasons.
TO REST- Sleeping might also be the time for our brain to do a little housekeeping. As we learn new things throughout the day, we are constantly generating and adding new synapses, a junction between two nerve cells, consisting of a minute gap across which impulses pass by diffusion of a neurotransmitter. But our head/ skull have limited storage capabilities, that's why bedtime might be the time synapses are cleaned out. Think of our brain as a computer that needs defragmentation.
TO HEAL- Sleeping allows our body to heal. studies shows that people with less sleep actually have lesser cell regeneration. Sleep also heals our mental ailments like stress and depression. Think of sleep as a fuel, that burns when we are awake.
TO LEARN- During our daily nap. our brain might be replaying the events of the day. reinforcing memory and learning. Studies shows that when we are sleeping we are reliving the events of the day. It also helps and improve memory.
TO DREAM- sleeping allows us to enter into the magical world of dreams. Although I'm not quite sure why we dream, all I know is that it makes sleeping unique.
Although science have uncover the mysteries of sleeping, it isn't enough to answer our question on "Why do we sleep?" Guess there's more work for them scientist. But one thing is for sure, Our future looks promising and will be worth staying awake
.
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