The Science of Sleep and Dreaming

Описание: What is sleep for? How is it related to nest-building? What is the evolutionary significance?

Most of us sleep when we are physically tired and given the way that human society has evolved, most of us are awake during daylight hours where we work, play, etc. and then sleep during the darker hours; therefore it is tempting to consider sleep as being important for getting physical rest. However, research over the last two decades is demonstrating the function of sleep is actually for the brain to do much-needed 'spring cleaning' of what you have experienced during the day, cleaning out toxins and more importantly for strengthening or 'consolidating' things that you have learnt that day. This vital function is seen in many studies showing the impact of sleep on functions such as memory as well as the link between poor memory and disrupted sleep. Intriguingly, research has begun to show that the great apes such as the orangutans build nests for sleeping in at night and the quality of their sleep is related to their cognitive functions - this has led to the theory that developing better sleep environments and sleep rhythms has been a crucial factor in the evolution of the human species out of the trees and onto open land....

In this talk, I will review some of the above issues and demonstrate to you that boastful 'getting by on less sleep' than someone else might actually be quite foolish and in fact detrimental to one's physical and more importantly, cognitive health.

#sleep #dreaming #science