Brain rewinds makes itself fresh when you sleep
Ever wondered why a good sleep makes you feel refreshed? It’s
because during that time your brain “resets” itself to make it ready to learn
and process more information when you wake up, scientists say.
And when you won’t get enough sleep, the brain cannot make itself
ready for more and new information, making you an irritable and inefficient
person, claimed the researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Psychologist Giulio Tononi, who led the study, said brain wave
activity is particularly strong during sleep -- a sign that the brain is
“wiping out” unnecessary impressions.
The brain literally “unwinds” during sleep -- wiping itself clean
in much the same way as a computer reboots, Tononi said.
“Sleep may be the price you pay so your brain can be plastic the
next day,” he was quoted as saying by the Daily Mail.
Tononi’s pioneering research into sleep -- using human
volunteers, rats, and computer simulations -- is considered to offer some of
the first insights into the ‘purpose’ of sleep His understanding of the brain
and how it “rewires” itself may also lead to a deeper understanding of what
consciousness itself is.
His hypothesis is that sleep allows the brain to regroup after a
hard day of learning by giving the synapses, which increase in strength during
the day, a chance to damp down to baseline levels This is important because the
brain uses up to 80 per cent of its energy to sustain synaptic activity.
Sleep may also be important for consolidating new memories, and
to allow the brain to “forget” the random, unimportant impressions of the day,
so there is room for more learning the next day.
This could be why the brain waves are so active during certain
periods of sleep, Tononi said.
“While there may still be no consensus on why animals need to
sleep, it would seem that searching for a core function of sleep, particularly
at the cellular level, is still a worthwhile exercise,” he concluded.
TH052512
No comments:
Post a Comment