What does sleeping do?!
Question:
What does sleeping do?
I know that sleeping is suposed to rest your body, but what exactically does it rest. Does it just rest your volentary muscles, my mom said it rested your brain but that dosn't make sence to me, wouldn't you die if your brain went to rest. Thanks for da help
Answers:
Sleep is also the time when the body does most of its repair work; muscle tissue is rebuilt and restored. We know, for example, that growth hormone is secreted during sleep. This hormone is important for growth in children, but is also important throughout adulthood in rebuilding tissues.
Sleep is also a time for restoring mental energy. We spend all day thinking and creating, and that uses up our energy stores.
It is interesting that in dream sleep the brain is actually very active. And this is where things get really theoretical. I'm not really sure exactly what dreams accomplish. Some experts believe that dreaming is actually some kind of clearing-out process. More sleep researchers think that dreams serve the function of helping to reorganize and store psychological information taken in during the day.
Not enough ZZZ's
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One of the ways we have of understanding why we need to sleep so much is to look at what happens if we don’t get enough sleep. It affects our personalities and our sense of humor. We may become irritable and less tolerant. Parents also say that when they’re tired they get irritated at the antics of children, that might amuse them if they were properly rested.
Lack of sleep clearly affects our thinking, or cognitive, processes. A sleep-deprived brain is truly running on four rather than eight cylinders. If we’re trying to be creative, the motor doesn’t work as well. We can perform calculations, but not as quickly. We’re much more likely to make errors. It’s because the brain’s engine hasn’t been replenished.
Tootles!