Sleeping, A Necessary Activity for Our Body

You see for so many of us, our day begins with our worst experience which is the blaring of the alarm clock. Some people are so quick to hit the snooze button, others would hit the snooze button so hard that it would destroy the alarm clock itself. While a lot of people do not like the sound of that clock basically because of the noise, it is no doubt regarded as the sound that brings us out of the mysterious world we call sleep into the world were we are awake.

We spend one third of our lives in this sleep state and although we spend so much time of our lives in this state, most of us do not know what happens to us when we fall asleep. For a long time, scientist didn't understand sleep at all and they just believed it was our brain hitting the reset button as it had to go to sleep for a while then come up the next day. As simple as sleep is, it is the most fundamental activity that humans and other animals experience.

Flickr

With Neuroscience, we now know a little about sleep and neuroscience tells us that our sleep pattern is controlled by competing network of chemicals which are known as neurotransmitters. They are released when we are awake in the brain to keep the cerebral cortex alert and as we perform day to day activities, Adenosine builds up in the brain activating sleep control neuron near the hypothalamus.

This part of the brain acts as a biological clock forming the circadian rhythm that helps us feel sleepy of wakeful. When the day becomes darker, the brain triggers the pineal gland to release the hormone melatonin to the bloodstream. This causes the body to become fatigue, causes the body temperature to lower. With artificial light, our sleep cycle can be affected as our brain thinks the sun is shining, preventing the release of melatonin as well as the onset of sleep.

The way our circadian rhythm is designed, if we do not sleep early enough, we do not wake up later instead we sleep less causing us to be sleep deprived. People now sleep at an average of six hours which means that we are deprived, and to fight this deprivation, caffeine is the next stimulant we turn to. But while we haven't be able to fully understand what sleep is, we have been able to understand its cycle, and we have been able to see that it has some importance.

Flickr

Animals that do not have enough rest have been seen to suffer seizure over time. Another research shows that over 15% of our genes are lined to circadian rhythm. We are less active at night but that doesn't mean we do not burn calories but then a lot of cellular repair, protein synthesis, an general biological upkeep are done while we are sleeping. Another theory says that the brain cleans itself off when we are sleeping and areas like the prefrontal cortex can only be relaxed when we are asleep. There are a few things that sleep deprivation causes and one of them is poor learning during new tasks, and poor processing of information.

In essence, sleep remains a fascinating enigma, essential for our physical, mental, and emotional vitality. As we strive to unravel its mysteries, one thing remains clear: prioritizing quality sleep is paramount for our well-being and productivity.

_{Read More About Sleep}

_{https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1892608/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7202232/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4548518/
https://www.healthline.com/health/why-do-we-sleep
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2769007/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6650574/
https://jcsm.aasm.org/doi/10.5664/jcsm.9476
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2911489/
https://www.epilepsy.com/what-is-epilepsy/seizure-triggers/sleep}