What if the question was phrased as what is the real reason we wake up and dedicate some conscious time for our mind? Surely, because in the physical world we live we need to arrange for some time to deal with the unavoidable practical things such as finding food and shelter. Then, after a long enough period of this activity focused on these very tangible, physical and physiological constraints we can finally say we fall to sleep again.
What is the real reason we sleep?
21–30 of 94 posts
Re: What is the real reason we sleep?
#22I tend to believe it's tied quite closely to memory and emotional states. I had very bad sleep apnea that was untreated, and for the time that it was untreated my memories are extremely vague compared to most. I also had very high anxiety which is completely gone now. Now that I use a machine to sleep my memory is sharp again. I also eat much less now, so I believe that calories were a way the body would attempt to c…
Note that sleep apnea can also lead to oxygen depletion, so it could be difficult to discern which of those symptoms were caused by brain damage from lack of oxygen vs. sleep deprivation.
It's mostly sleep deprivation though. I graduated with a 3.7 from a top 5 school in CS after I was treated. My apnea was SEVERE before treatment: 30 apneas per hour.
I doubt I had any brain damage, though my study only recorded a min SpO2 of 90%.
Re: What is the real reason we sleep?
#23I tend to believe it's tied quite closely to memory and emotional states. I had very bad sleep apnea that was untreated, and for the time that it was untreated my memories are extremely vague compared to most. I also had very high anxiety which is completely gone now. Now that I use a machine to sleep my memory is sharp again. I also eat much less now, so I believe that calories were a way the body would attempt to c…
How did you discover you had sleep apnea?
Probably through an overnight clinical sleep study.
Re: What is the real reason we sleep?
#24I remember watching this TED talk a couple years ago which stuck with me, though am not 100% sure on its validity.
http://www.ted.com/talks/jeff_iliff_one_more_reason_to_get_a...
The theory being that sleep was a way to clear out waste from the brain during normal operation, due to the lymphatic system not extending to the brain, it has to put itself into "sleep mode" to drain the waste.
This might explain why memory is usually better after a good night's sleep, and also the cause of dreams - which is just misfiring of neurons while the waste is being cleared.
Re: What is the real reason we sleep?
#25I took Matt Walker's class on sleep at UC Berkeley (Psych 133) and it was fascinating. Short-term effects of a lack of sleep are easily observable, and I'm sure we can all relate from personal experience. However, long-term effects of sleep deprivation are harder to determine. One of the few known correlations appears to be that people who are susceptible to psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia are more likely to experience them as they age, if they suffer from chronic sleep deprivation.
"Sleep problems may increase risk for developing particular mental illnesses, as well as result from such disorders." - http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/Sleep-and-m... (2009)
Re: What is the real reason we sleep?
#26What if the question was phrased as what is the real reason we wake up and dedicate some conscious time for our mind? Surely, because in the physical world we live we need to arrange for some time to deal with the unavoidable practical things such as finding food and shelter. Then, after a long enough period of this activity focused on these very tangible, physical and physiological constraints we can finally say we…
We can't all be plants and fungus.
Re: What is the real reason we sleep?
#27What if the question was phrased as what is the real reason we wake up and dedicate some conscious time for our mind? Surely, because in the physical world we live we need to arrange for some time to deal with the unavoidable practical things such as finding food and shelter. Then, after a long enough period of this activity focused on these very tangible, physical and physiological constraints we can finally say we…
We can't all be plants and fungus.
Plants seem to sleep as well, can't pinpoint the exact source right now, but it was from a documentary. Something among the lines of "the hidden lives of plants"
Re: What is the real reason we sleep?
#28What if the question was phrased as what is the real reason we wake up and dedicate some conscious time for our mind? Surely, because in the physical world we live we need to arrange for some time to deal with the unavoidable practical things such as finding food and shelter. Then, after a long enough period of this activity focused on these very tangible, physical and physiological constraints we can finally say we…
We can't all be plants and fungus.
Why?
I think it is possible for life to evolve on a planet with only plants and fungus.
Plants have been pretty successful down here on Earth, and I think most of them don't need animals for their survival (except flowers?).
Re: What is the real reason we sleep?
#29I tend to believe it's tied quite closely to memory and emotional states. I had very bad sleep apnea that was untreated, and for the time that it was untreated my memories are extremely vague compared to most. I also had very high anxiety which is completely gone now. Now that I use a machine to sleep my memory is sharp again. I also eat much less now, so I believe that calories were a way the body would attempt to c…
What machine do you use?
Re: What is the real reason we sleep?
#30I remember watching this TED talk a couple years ago which stuck with me, though am not 100% sure on its validity. http://www.ted.com/talks/jeff_iliff_one_more_reason_to_get_a... The theory being that sleep was a way to clear out waste from the brain during normal operation, due to the lymphatic system not extending to the brain, it has to put itself into "sleep mode" to drain the waste. This might explain why memory…
So sleep is something like garbage collection in Java? Some perceptions/thoughts you experience during the day need to be mived from a finite sized young generational heap to a long kived heap (ie convert important short term memories to long term memories). This then frees uo space in the young gen. heap for the next day. Dreams could potentially be the result of a reference check being performed to see which memories to move to a different heap and which can be discarded.