What purpose does sleep serve for the brain, Biology

Assignment Help:

What purpose does sleep serve for the brain?

A. We don't yet know full answer to this fundamental question however neuroscience is providing intriguing clues. It's increasingly clear that adequate sleep is necessary to consolidate certain types of memories and to improve performance on different learning tasks. If we are deprived of sleep, we don't learn as well. Recent brain research indicates that so-called "slow-wave" sleep, a type of non-REM sleep which generally occurs early in the night, is specifically crucial to learning. Sleeping within 30 hours of new learning seems to be essential, however some studies suggest that brief, 60- to 90-minute naps produce as much improvement in practiced behaviors as a full eight hours of sleep, so long as naps include both slow-wave and REM sleep.

Anyone who has ever pulled an all-nighter knows that lack of sleep can impair learning, memory, attention and decision-making, making it difficult to perform even simple tasks. Our risk of accidents is also greater when we don't sleep well. While average person requires about 8 hours of sleep per night, surveys suggest that America is sleep-deprived. As many as one-fifth of us say daytime sleepiness keeps us from performing at our peak, and nearly as many report having fallen asleep during driving. Chronic lack of sleep or abrupt changes in sleep patterns could signal an underlying problem that warrants evaluation by a qualified sleep doctor.

 


Related Discussions:- What purpose does sleep serve for the brain

Zoonoses disease-staphylococcosis, Staphylococcosis The disease is caused ...

Staphylococcosis The disease is caused by the ingestion of preformed toxin released by Staphylococcus aureus. Epidemiology: Staphylococci grow in meat, dairy and bakery prod

Explain poor growth - clinical signs of kwashiorkor, Explain Poor growth - ...

Explain Poor growth - clinical signs of kwashiorkor? Growth retardation is the earliest manifestation of kwashiorkor, the child will be lighter and shorter than its normal peer

Define absorption, Define Absorption, Storage and Elimination of Vitamin K?...

Define Absorption, Storage and Elimination of Vitamin K? Dietary vitamin K, mainly phylloquinone, is absorbed chemically unchanged from the proximal intestine after solubilizat

Define essentiality of carbon for growth of micro-organism, Define the Esse...

Define the Essentiality of Carbon for the Growth of Microorganisms Carbon is needed for the skeleton of all organic molecules. Microorganisms acquire it either as inorganic car

Explain conservative substitution, Conservative Substitution: The nucleoti...

Conservative Substitution: The nucleotide mutation that alters the amino acid sequence of protein, but which causes substitution of one amino acid with another which has a side ch

Blood flow during exercise - circulation, Normal 0 false fals...

Normal 0 false false false EN-IN X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

Illustrate the nature of the stimulus, Q. What is the nature of the stimulu...

Q. What is the nature of the stimulus received and transmitted by the neurons? Neurons transmit and receive chemical stimuli through neurotransmitters released in the synapses.

Deficiency diseases-calcium deficiency (hypocalcicosis), Calcium  deficien...

Calcium  deficiency (hypocalcicosis) Calcium deficiency or hypocalciosis is a sporadic condition occurring in a particular group of animals causing osteodystrophy. Aetiol

Agro industrial-selenium, Selenium Glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) was...

Selenium Glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) was the first selenium metalloenzyme identified.Glutathione peroxidase catalyzes the reduction of hydrogen peroxide and lipid h yp r o

How is respiration performed by the larva of amphibians, Q. How is respirat...

Q. How is respiration performed by the larva of amphibians? The larva of amphibians has exclusively branchial respiration this is one of the reasons why it depends on water to

Write Your Message!

Captcha
Free Assignment Quote

Assured A++ Grade

Get guaranteed satisfaction & time on delivery in every assignment order you paid with us! We ensure premium quality solution document along with free turntin report!

All rights reserved! Copyrights ©2019-2020 ExpertsMind IT Educational Pvt Ltd