Think About It Thursday - If You Think About Sleeping, It's Actually Pretty Weird...

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Every single human being on this planet has the need to lay down at night and sleep.  Young, old or in between we all love to catch some zzzz's at the end of a long day.  If you think about it, it is pretty strange.  We get undressed and put on some jammies (some prefer to go commando) and then we get onto a big soft pad wrapped up like a burrito.  Then we just lay there for 8 hours or more while our heads play movies for us (dreams...).  We do this every single day!  Or hopefully anyway...


So why do we even need to sleep in the first place?  To start off, if we don't sleep, we will literally go crazy.  It will induce psychosis and in fact will eventually kill you.  So yes, you have to sleep or you will die...  However, no one really knows exactly why we need sleep.  There are many theories, but this is still a widely studied topic in the science community.

Some theories of why we need sleep:

  1. Sleep allows the brain organize itself
    • Allows the brain to sort memories and information
  2. Sleep gives the brain a rest and restores energy
    • The brain consumes about half the glucose while sleeping compared to being awake
    • Some portions of the brain have more activity, but others less.  This is still being studied to understand it better.
  3. Sleep let's the brain flush out waste
    • While awake, the brain consumes a ton of energy, so when we sleep it allows it to essentially take out the trash from any waste generated while consuming that energy. 
  4. Sleep keeps your memory healthy
    • Allows the brain to regenerate neurons
    • Repairs synapses connections between the neurons to maintain and improve memory.
Scientists will continue to find out the answers, maybe it's one of the above or all of them.  Or even perhaps could be some other reason.  One thing is certain, we all need it and love it.  So sleep on and stay healthy!

#RookieGuru
#GiveMeMore

Source: https://www.livescience.com/32469-why-do-we-sleep.html

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