we don’t know why we sleep.
Sleeping is very common, but it is also very mysterious. So far, scientists still don’t understand why people sleep. In order to adapt to the cruel natural environment, our physiological activities usually have a clear purpose. For example, the purpose of eating and breeding is to survive and spread genes. However, sleeping is very likely to let us be eaten by beasts when we lose consciousness. If it’s for the body and brain to be repaired and kept alive, why can’t we do these repairs consciously? For example, a dolphin can rest half of its brain
Rest, half the brain is awake. Scientists have also made many conjectures about this. For example, some people think that the brain will produce some toxins while awake during the day, and these toxins will be metabolized during sleep, but this conjecture can not be confirmed in research. Another theory is that when awake during the day, the brain needs to consume a large amount of protein, RNA and cholesterol, so it needs to supplement these substances during sleep. Although some studies have found that the production of these substances in animals will increase during slow wave sleep, it is not obvious. Freud, the originator of psychoanalytic therapy, also provided the reason he believed that sleeping was to fully realize his wishes in dreams, which of course could not be “proved”.
long term lack of sleep is bad for health.
Although we do not know the exact reason for sleeping, we know that insufficient sleep will bring many health hazards, such as increasing the probability of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity. Nowadays, insomnia has become an urban epidemic, and many people are worried about it. What degree of sleep deprivation will affect our metabolism and lead to diseases? Studies show that if healthy young people are allowed only four hours of sleep a day, they will show signs of glucose intolerance and metabolic syndrome a few days later. But this kind of situation is difficult to happen in real life. First, few people will sleep less than 5 hours every night. Second, even if they sleep only 4 hours for several days, a day of restorative sleep can restore various physiological indexes to the normal range.
Why do I always feel sleepless
If you ask “do you get enough sleep?”, The answer of most people is that they haven’t slept enough. The reasons behind this can be roughly divided into two kinds. First, I really didn’t sleep enough. Second, I thought I didn’t sleep enough. The concept of eight hours of sleep a day has been deeply rooted in people’s minds, but in fact, it does not apply to everyone. Young babies need about 18 hours of sleep every day, healthy adults need 7-7.5 hours of sleep every night, and the elderly may only need 5 hours of sleep every day. Everyone has different needs for sleep time, but how can it be considered healthy? This is a difficult question to answer, or there is no standard answer at all. Changes in age and individual differences make the sleep time required by each person specific. Therefore, we can’t simply take 8 hours as the standard of adequate sleep, but we should see whether we have sleepiness and trance during the day.
most people suffer from false sleep deficiency.
A study published in the Journal of sleep medicine shows that 50% of people actually sleep 25 minutes less than they think they need every day, but in fact, only 20% of people feel very tired during the day. This shows that although many people feel that they lack sleep, they will not be affected during the day. In further investigation, they were asked “if you had an extra hour every day, what would you do?” Only a very small number of people will choose to go to bed one hour earlier. Everyone is more inclined to watch TV, listen to music, work overtime, read books, socialize, exercise and other options. Many people don’t really lack sleep, but they think they don’t get enough sleep and feel anxious because of it. Some people even take sleeping pills because of it, but they are unwilling to turn off their mobile phones, tablets and TVs early and sleep in bed.
sleeping is good for learning and memory.
Countless evidences have shown that the brain performs different functions during sleep – consolidating our memories. Memories are not burned into our brains immediately after an event occurs. First of all, all kinds of reliable clues will enter our short-term memory. After the processing of the brain, events will really enter our long-term memory. Many studies have shown that sleep can make memory more solid, because it is 15% better than not sleeping to recall what you learned before going to bed. But without sleep, we can still learn new knowledge, so this is not the real purpose of sleep, but an additional benefit.
sleep structure changes with age.
All animals need more sleep in infancy than in adulthood, and humans are no exception. As we grow older, our sleep structure and sleep depth are different. In the sleep of young people, the REM phase accounts for most of the time, and they
The non REM sleep is very deep, which is conducive to the development of the brain. Both deep sleep and REM sleep can help build networks between brain neurons, which in turn helps us learn new skills. It has been found that babies sleep the longest when they grow up quickly. The older you get, not only do you sleep less, but also the proportion of deep sleep and REM sleep is smaller. At the same time, it becomes difficult for us to learn new skills. Scientists want to know if we can prevent this age-related sleep change, whether we can prevent mental retardation caused by aging.
don’t take a nap for more than half an hour.
In mammals living on land, including humans, the brain stem activity almost stops during non REM sleep, and returns to the level when we are awake during REM sleep. Therefore, if we are awakened directly from the non REM sleep period, it is difficult for us to wake up quickly. During the whole process of sleep, REM sleep and non REM sleep cross produce, which is to make the brain stem that is completely “static” during non REM sleep move. In the first cycle of sleep, REM sleep generally does not exceed half an hour, so it is better not to nap more than half an hour during the day, otherwise it will be difficult to wake up.
how long can I sleep at most in a day
Teenagers sleep eight hours a day, but they are still very sleepy during the day. The elderly also sleep eight hours a day, but they can’t sleep. In a study published in the journal Current Biology, scientists forced a young man to lie in a bed in a dark room for 16 hours in a row. He was able to sleep for 12 hours at first. However, if this lasts for several days, the time he can fall asleep will be reduced to 9 hours, which may be because after a few days of long sleep, he has paid off his sleep debt. Of course, the dark and relaxed environment created by the experiment will make people sleepier than usual. If the elderly are also forced to lie in the bed in a dark room for a long time, they can sleep for about 7 and a half hours at most. Previous studies have found that those elderly people with the longest lifespan sleep between 6 and 7.5 hours at night.
women have better sleep quality.
Gender differences can also affect sleep time and biological clock. Women usually sleep longer and have better quality of deep sleep. In addition, the biological clock of women is 6 minutes shorter than that of men on average, so generally women go to bed earlier and get up earlier than men, and it is easier to be “morning type”.
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