Why should Sleep?

Why should Sleep?

Sleeping may be considered as a big waste of time. Nevertheless, sleep appears to be necessary, there is still a ever lasting debate about why we sleep? How much sleep is needed?

No one knows and understands clearly why we sleep, but sleep has a impotent restorative function.

Sleep Restorative Process
This theory of sleep suggests that sleep helps the body recover from all the work it did. Experiments have shown that the more physical activity an animal does, the more NREM an animal will have. Also, if people are deprived of NREM, then they may experience physical tiredness. If people are deprived of REM sleep, then they can get anxious and irritable. REM sleep has also been considered as important for memory and learning.

Deep Sleep necessity
Good night sleep is essential needed for the normal, healthy functioning of the human body as well as mental health including the immune system. Sleep helps to improve the immune system that is one’s ability to fight against diseases.

Body rests and restores its energy levels during sleep
Sleep is an active state that supports and improves both the physical and mental well-being.
Sleep is often helps to cope with stress, recover from illness.

Necessity of sleep is well understood by an animal studies, which have shown that sleep is the must for the survival. The normal life span of rats is 2-3 years. However, rats deprived of sleep live for only about 3 weeks.

Understanding Sleep
During sleep the brain undergoes a characteristic cycle of brain wave activities that includes intervals of dreaming. Once sleep was thought to be as a passive state, however now it is understand as a dynamic process and the brains are active during sleep. Sleep is considered as a complicated physiological phenomenon that scientists still not able to understand fully.

Brains state of activity during sleep and wakefulness result from different activating and inhibiting forces that was caused with in the brain. Neurotransmitters are chemicals involved in nerve signaling which controls whether one is asleep or awake by acting the neurons (nerve cells) located in different parts of the brain. Neurons located in the brainstem induce sleep by inhibiting other parts of the brain that keeps one awake.