What happens to your mind when you sleep?
October 4th 2011 11:08
Sleep has the ability to stabilise and consolidate recent memories
Sleep restores our neurons. It is not merely resting the body and the mind. Our body does most of its repair work during sleep. Sleep is essential for both learning and creativity. People who have enough rest learn better and are more creative. Sleep regularity maintains our internal biological clock. Neither too little nor too much sleep is good. Short sleep is a cause of ill-health, whereas long sleep is an indicator of ill-health. We gain weight by sleeping too little or too much.
Sleep helps us to resolve many puzzles of life. Our brain works even when we are sleeping. Our brain activity doesn’t come to a halt during sleep. The discovery of rapid eye movement (REM) and other facts support the idea that the brain is continuously active during sleep. Even during non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, when consciousness may be totally obliterated, the brain remains significantly active. During sleep our brain processes the day’s information so that it can be used more effectively in the future. Researchers say brain regions shift during sleep — sleep memory is shifted to more efficient storage regions within the brain. Consequently, when you are awake, memory tasks can be performed both quickly and accurately and with less stress and anxiety. The magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies have shown that some areas of the brain (the cerebellum, which functions as one of the brain's motor centres controlling speed and accuracy) are more active after sleep, and other areas (limbic system, the region that controls emotions, such as stress and anxiety) are less active. On the whole there is an improvement in motor skill performance after sleep.
Sleep has the ability to stabilise memory. It also helps in identifying what information is worth keeping — sleep consolidates recent memories. Our new memories are quite vulnerable initially. The process of "memory consolidation" occurs when connections between brain cells as well as different brain regions are strengthened. It was believed that memory consolidation is merely a matter of time. Recent studies have demonstrated that time spent in sleeping also plays a key role in preserving memory.
Researchers say that sleep facilitates insight (mental restructuring that leads to a sudden gain of explicit knowledge allowing qualitatively changed behaviour). During sleep our brains supposedly practice what we have recently learned. But what's even more interesting is that sleeping on a problem helps people find better solutions. According to the researchers, sleeping on a problem apparently allows for a restructuring of the brain connections thus setting the stage for the emergence of insight. Researchers have noted that the areas of the brain that become active first are focused in a small area. But after concentrated focus on the problem, and just before the real moment, the brain wants to come to a state of relaxation. In this relaxation period brain tries to make new and distant connections between previously unrelated areas. Relaxing the brain’s focus is essential for insight.
Sleep-deprived people often fall asleep (for brief periods; may last several seconds) but remain unaware of it. Unable to judge the likelihood of falling asleep may result in sleep-related accidents. Researchers observed that sleep deprivation causes groups of brain cells falling asleep in rats though they appear to be awake. They also found that the rats with sleeping neurons make more mistakes. Researchers suspect that what goes on in the rats also happens in humans.
The writer is a biotechnologist and ED, Birla Institute of Scientific Research, Jaipur
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