Sleep is when our brains process the events of the day and cement things into long term memory. It also physically cleans the brain, during deep sleep a bunch of junk that our brains make as a side effect of working and thinking during the day gets physically washed away by the movement of our cerebrospinal fluid.
Sleep also just rests our bodies and allows it to repair itself, devote energy to healing instead of to thinking and moving.
When we don’t get enough sleep our bodies become exhausted, waste products build up in our brains impairing function, and our memories start to go to shit because nothing can ever really get cemented into long term storage. And the start of impairment happens fast, after just 24hrs without sleep the average person is more impaired by lack of sleep than they are by a blood alcohol level of 0.08, the legal limit for driving in the US.
You need sleep to clean waste products from your brain that it produces during normal daily functioning.
During sleep activities at some parts slow down so waste products can be removed through fluids that wash over and through the brain.
When you don’t sleep, harmful waste products can not be effectively removed, so they keep accumulating and start to interfere with normal activities until brain can not function at all, which results in death.
Our body works by a massive amount of various chemical reactions. Of course, this means that the end results and byproducts of those reactions can pile up. So your body needs to rectify this-reset things back to a more stable setting. We do this during sleep-a period of lower activity set aside for this purpose, where our body tries to lock itself down to avoid the worst of potential misfiring in this process.
As an example, if one works a muscle intensely, metabolic byproducts of its functioning, like lactic acid, will build up. Potentially to such a degree that they become dangerous to the tissues. So after such exertion, our body will signal that we should shut down to purge this buildup-thus, the sensation of feeling tired after a workout.
When we don’t sleep, a lot of different things can happen, all based on what chemicals are building up in our system. One of the more notable and obvious ones is buildup of neuro chemicals at their destinations within our brains-meaning there isn’t a concentration gradient to allow them to pass normally anymore, resulting in psychosis as our brain malfunctions. A usually more immediate one will be our body slowing down as it continually insists we need to sleep-which we’ll perceive as becoming increasingly exhausted and ahedonic.
Sleep is essential for our brain and body to recharge. During sleep, memories are consolidated, toxins are eliminated, and the body repairs itself. If we don’t sleep, the effects can include cognitive problems, mood swings, and health risks, such as a weakened immune system. In short, sleep is essential for maintaining good physical and mental functioning
Stanford sleep researcher William Dement said that after 50 years of studying sleep, the only really solid explanation he knows for why we do it is ‘because we get sleepy’.
As someone who suffers insomnia I can say that your body will log the hours you aren’t sleeping and eventually force you to catch up. I tend to sleep much longer during the weekend. On weeks where it gets really bad you can experience micro-blackouts where your body forces you to sleep for a short period. I’ve had times where I pass out and wake up on the floor. It’s not fun.
Your brain is like a kitchen. Waste and mess from the cooking piles up throughout the day. Some of this can be cleaned while the kitchen is active but it’s a lot easier when the kitchen is closed down overnight. Too much mess and the chefs start making mistakes.
There was a pretty interesting video by the Scishow channel that talked about the effects of sleep deprivation and the reason sleep deprivation can kill you is linked to the havoc it plays on the gastrointestinal system.
I had to go through sleep deprivation training in the army. I was up for pretty much a week (a half hour nap here and there if I was lucky). Lack of sleep is scary, you start hearing voices, the people around you don’t sound the way they should, you start to see shadow people. It is NOT a fun experience.
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Even flies sleep.
When a fly doesn’t sleep a build of up Reactive oxygen species (ROS) in it gut kills it.
Sleep is when our brains process the events of the day and cement things into long term memory. It also physically cleans the brain, during deep sleep a bunch of junk that our brains make as a side effect of working and thinking during the day gets physically washed away by the movement of our cerebrospinal fluid.
Sleep also just rests our bodies and allows it to repair itself, devote energy to healing instead of to thinking and moving.
When we don’t get enough sleep our bodies become exhausted, waste products build up in our brains impairing function, and our memories start to go to shit because nothing can ever really get cemented into long term storage. And the start of impairment happens fast, after just 24hrs without sleep the average person is more impaired by lack of sleep than they are by a blood alcohol level of 0.08, the legal limit for driving in the US.
You need sleep to clean waste products from your brain that it produces during normal daily functioning.
During sleep activities at some parts slow down so waste products can be removed through fluids that wash over and through the brain.
When you don’t sleep, harmful waste products can not be effectively removed, so they keep accumulating and start to interfere with normal activities until brain can not function at all, which results in death.
Our body works by a massive amount of various chemical reactions. Of course, this means that the end results and byproducts of those reactions can pile up. So your body needs to rectify this-reset things back to a more stable setting. We do this during sleep-a period of lower activity set aside for this purpose, where our body tries to lock itself down to avoid the worst of potential misfiring in this process.
As an example, if one works a muscle intensely, metabolic byproducts of its functioning, like lactic acid, will build up. Potentially to such a degree that they become dangerous to the tissues. So after such exertion, our body will signal that we should shut down to purge this buildup-thus, the sensation of feeling tired after a workout.
When we don’t sleep, a lot of different things can happen, all based on what chemicals are building up in our system. One of the more notable and obvious ones is buildup of neuro chemicals at their destinations within our brains-meaning there isn’t a concentration gradient to allow them to pass normally anymore, resulting in psychosis as our brain malfunctions. A usually more immediate one will be our body slowing down as it continually insists we need to sleep-which we’ll perceive as becoming increasingly exhausted and ahedonic.
Sleep does so many things, and it is so important that an ELI5 will not even scratch the surface, but to list a few:
If you have an hour, watch this lecture.
https://youtu.be/aXflBZXAucQ?si=hkVz53fp_TA0XT5–
Sleep is essential for our brain and body to recharge. During sleep, memories are consolidated, toxins are eliminated, and the body repairs itself. If we don’t sleep, the effects can include cognitive problems, mood swings, and health risks, such as a weakened immune system. In short, sleep is essential for maintaining good physical and mental functioning
Your brain is like your body, you should shower regularly. if you don’t your brain will start to stink.
Amazing that everyone seems to know why we sleep, yet science still has no answer as to why. So…
Nobody really knows.
Stanford sleep researcher William Dement said that after 50 years of studying sleep, the only really solid explanation he knows for why we do it is ‘because we get sleepy’.
As someone who suffers insomnia I can say that your body will log the hours you aren’t sleeping and eventually force you to catch up. I tend to sleep much longer during the weekend. On weeks where it gets really bad you can experience micro-blackouts where your body forces you to sleep for a short period. I’ve had times where I pass out and wake up on the floor. It’s not fun.
Your brain is like a kitchen. Waste and mess from the cooking piles up throughout the day. Some of this can be cleaned while the kitchen is active but it’s a lot easier when the kitchen is closed down overnight. Too much mess and the chefs start making mistakes.
we need sleep to recharge. when we don’t get enough sleep we can die. we are meat cell phones
There was a pretty interesting video by the Scishow channel that talked about the effects of sleep deprivation and the reason sleep deprivation can kill you is linked to the havoc it plays on the gastrointestinal system.
Potentially linked to serotonin?
https://youtu.be/MbuzrFb7spw
I had to go through sleep deprivation training in the army. I was up for pretty much a week (a half hour nap here and there if I was lucky). Lack of sleep is scary, you start hearing voices, the people around you don’t sound the way they should, you start to see shadow people. It is NOT a fun experience.