Cert

ainl
y!Sl
eepi safasci
nat
ingandessent
ialphysi
ologi
calpr
ocesst
hataf
fect
sourover
all
heal
thandwel l
-bei
ng.Let
'sdel
veint
othescienti
fi
creasonsbehi
ndwhywesleep,
evenwhenwe
mightnotconsciousl
ywantto:

1.*
*Rest
orat
ionandRepai
r**
:

-Duri
ngsleep,
ourbodyundergoesv
ariousr
est
orat
ivepr
ocesses.Ti
ssuesr
epai
rthemsel
ves,
andcel
lul
arwastepr
oductsareremoved.

-Thebr
ainal
soconsol
i
datesmemori
esandprocessesi
nfor
mat
ionf
rom t
heday
,whi
ch
cont
ri
but
estol
earni
ngandcogni
ti
vef
unct
ion.

2.*
*Ener
gyConser
vat
ion*
*:

-Sl
eephel
psconserv
eener gy
.Whenwer
est
,ourmet
abol
i
crat
edecr
eases,
all
owi
ngt
hebody
t
osaveener
gyforthenextday.

-Thi
sconser
vat
ionofener
gyisespeci
all
ycr
uci
alf
orsur
viv
ali
nthewi
l
d,wher
eani
mal
sneed
t
obealer
tduri
ngwakinghour
s.

3.*
*Br
ainWast
eCl
ear
ance*
*:

-Recentresearchhasshownthatdur
ingsl
eep,
thebr
ain'
sgl
ymphat
icsyst
em becomesmor
e
act
ive.Thi
ssy st
em hel
psclearwast
eproduct
s,i
ncl
udi
ngtoxi
cpr
otei
nsli
kebet
a-amyloi
d.

-Properwasteclearanceisessent
ial
formai
ntai
ningbr
ainheal
thandpr
event
ing
neur
odegenerat
ivediseases.

4.*
*ImmuneFunct
ion*
*:

-Sl
eepplay
savit
alr
oleini
mmunef unct
ion.Whil
ewesleep,ouri
mmunesyst
em pr
oduces
cy
toki
nesandot
hermolecul
est
hathelpfi
ghtinf
ecti
onsandinfl
ammat
ion.

-Chroni
csl
eepdepr
ivat
ionweakenst
hei
mmuner
esponse,
maki
ngusmor
esuscept
ibl
eto
i
l
lnesses.

5.*
*Br
ainPl
ast
ici
tyandLear
ning*
*:

-Sl
eepenhancesbr
ainpl
ast
ici
ty,
all
owi
ngneur
onst
oreor
gani
zeandst
rengt
henconnect
ions.
 -It
'sdur
ingdeepsleep(
slow-wavesl
eep)thatthebrainconsol
i
dat
esmemor
iesandpr
ocesses
i
nformati
on,cont
ri
buti
ngtolear
ningandproblem-sol
ving.

6.*
*Hor
monal
Regul
ati
on*
*:

-Sleepinf
luenceshormoneproduct
ion.Forexampl
e,gr
owt
hhor
monei
srel
easeddur
ingdeep
sl
eep,promotingti
ssuerepai
randgrowth.

-Hormonesr
elat
edt
ohungerandappet
it
e(l
i
kel
ept
inandghr
eli
n)ar
eal
soaf
fect
edbysl
eep
pat
ter
ns.

7.*
*Cogni
ti
vePer
for
manceandMood*
*:

-Lackofsl
eepi
mpai
rscogni
ti
vef
unct
ionssuchasat
tent
ion,
memor
y,anddeci
sion-
maki
ng.

-Adequat
esl
eepi
mpr
ovesmood,
emot
ional
regul
ati
on,
andov
eral
lment
alheal
th.

8.*
*Br
ainDet
oxi
fi
cat
ion*
*:

-Somestudiessuggestt
hatduri
ngsleep,
thebr
ain'
sint
erst
it
ial
flui
dfl
owi
ncr
eases,
f
acil
i
tat
ingtheremovalofwasteproduct
s.

-Thi
sdet
oxi
fi
cat
ionpr
ocessi
sessent
ial
formai
ntai
ningbr
ainheal
th.

9.*
*Regul
ati
onofBodyTemper
atur
eandHear
tRat
e**
:

-Sl
eephelpsregul
atebodyt
emper
atur
eandhear
trat
e.Dur
ingdeepsl
eep,
thesephy
siol
ogi
cal
pr
ocessesstabi
li
ze.

10.*
*Ev
olut
ionar
yPer
spect
ive*
*:

-From anevol
utionar
ystandpoint
,sleepli
kel
yevol
vedasasur
viv
alst
rat
egy
.Ani
mal
sthat
couldrestdur
ingthenightwerelessvulner
ablet
opredat
ors.

-Sleepal
soal
l
owedear
lyhumanst
oconser
veener
gyandav
oidunnecessar
yri
sksdur
ing
darkness.

I
nsummar
y,sl
eepser
vesmul
ti
plecr
it
ical
funct
ions,
andourbodi
espr
ior
it
izei
tev
enwhenwe
don'
tconsciousl
ydesi
rei
t.Sothenextti
mey ouf
indy
our
selfnoddi
ngoff,
remembert
haty
our
bodyi
swor kinghar
dbehi
ndt hescenestokeepy
ouheal
thyandfunct
ioni
ngopt
imal
ly
!

I
fyou'
dliketoexplor
emor
ein-
dept
hsci
ent
if
icl
i
ter
atur
eonsl
eep,
Irecommendchecki
ngoutt
he
f
oll
owingresources:

-Zi
eli
nski
,M.R.,McKenna,J.T.
,&McCar
ley
,R.W.(
2017)
.Funct
ionsandMechani
smsofSl
eep.
*AI
MSneur osci
ence*
,3(1)
,67–104.¹

-Kanda,T.
,Tsuji
no,N.,
Kuramot o,
E.,Koyama,
Y.,Susaki
,E.A.
,Chikahi
sa,S.,
&Funato,
H.(2016)
.
Sl
eepasabi ol
ogicalpr
oblem: anoverv
iewoffr
onti
ersinsl
eepresearch.*
TheJournalof
Physi
ologi
calSci
ences*,66,1–13.²

Sweetdr
eams!

Sour
ce:
Conv
ersat
ionwi
thCopi
l
ot,
5/22/
2024

(1)FunctionsandMechanismsofSl
eep-Harv
ardUniv
ersit
y.
https:
//dash.har
var
d.edu/
bit
str
eam/
handl
e/1/
32630475/5390528.
pdf
?sequence=1.

(2)Sleepasabiol
ogicalpr
obl
em:anov erv
iewoffront
ier
sinsleep.
..
.
https:
//j
ps.
biomedcentr
al.
com/ar
ti
cles/
10.1007/
s12576-015-
0414-
3.

(3)Physi
ologyofNor
mal
Sleep|
Spr
inger
Link.ht
tps:
//l
i
nk.
spr
inger
.com/
chapt
er/
10.
1007/
978-
981-16-
0123-1_1.

(4)Neurobi
ologyofSleepi
ngBehavi
ors|Fronti
ersResear
chTopic.
https:
//www.fr
onti
ersi
n.or
g/r
esear
ch-t
opics/26599/
neurobi
ology
-of
-sl
eepi
ng-
behav
ior
s.

(5)NeuralCir
cuit
sforSleep–WakeRegulat
ion|Spr
ingerLi
nk.
https:
//l
i
nk.spri
nger
.com/chapt
er/
10.1007/978-
981-15-
7086-
5_8.

(
6)undef
ined.ht
tp:
//dx.
doi
.
org/
10.
3934/
Neur
osci
ence.
2016.
1.67.

(
7)undef
ined.ht
tp:
//nr
s.har
var
d.edu/
urn-
3:HUL.
Inst
Repos:
32630475.