How and Why Sleep?
We spend about a third of our lives sleeping, but few of us question why we sleep. Most of us feel like we don't do much in sleep, but a simple rest with the sleep switch turned off.
We spend about a third of our lives sleeping, but few of us question why we sleep. Most of us feel like we don't do much in sleep, but sleep is not a simple rest where the switch is turned off, but an active process, especially when the brain is very busy. It is more common that dreams are told and discussed, so why do we dream? What happens while we sleep and why do we need sleep? Let us put aside the personal developmentists who may argue about sleep and even say it is unnecessary. Why we sleep, what happens while sleeping is still an issue that scientists have not reached a consensus. But like every real sleep, it should be a topic that is talked about with scientific knowledge. In this article, I aim to convey the knowledge and hypotheses that science has about sleep.
Biological Clock
The adaptation process to the inanimate nature is such a powerful factor in the evolution of living things that the heart of living things multiplies with nature and acts in accordance with its rhythm. Day and night, created by the rotation of the earth on its axis, many temporal events such as the seasons caused by the axis inclination have also revealed temporal changes in adaptation. Many trees emerge from harsh winter conditions by shedding their leaves and reducing water transport. Some fish and bird species find food through large seasonal migrations and are protected from the cold. Flowers open and close during the day, some at night emits special scents. All mammals and birds sleep at different times and lengths. Many reptiles, amphibians, fish and even insects are sleeping. Some are nightlife like owls, cats or vampire bats, while others are noted for their short sleep.
Human as a primate is no different. Many hormonal and neurally controlled clocks work in a continuous cycle in our bodies. The structures that control these cycles are called biological clocks. As we all know, women's menstruation cycle of about four weeks can be given as an example of biological hours. For sleep, most of us have a daily cycle (approximately 23.5 and 24.65 hours different cycles have been observed in humans). With our advanced culture, we can illuminate at night, cover long distances and produce technologies that will survive in the worst conditions. This was not the case in most of the history of our species. The nights were when our vision was restricted, the weather was cold, unprotected and we could not find food. That was why large groups of people took refuge in caves, tree caverns, or other safe places. The fact that we and other animals spend their inefficient time sleeping in this cycle has led many scientists to believe that the origin of sleep is an evolutionary process that holds us in place to provide energy savings and safety. Adenosine and melotonin increased sleep. During sleep, the hormone melatonin reaches its highest levels and deepens our sleep. Indeed, the absence of light is a major factor in our sleep, with the first light of the day, the melatonin secretion decreases rapidly and the body revives rapidly if there is no special condition such as excessive fatigue, wear or disease. With the secretion of cortisol, adrenaline and noradranelin, the body is ready for action. In addition to external determinants, the biological clock that complies with these clocks is such a powerful determinant that, in experiments conducted in dark and non-clock rooms, subjects were found to sleep at night. Could that really be the only reason we're asleep? So it just evolved to sleep because there was nothing better to do? Studies reveal that this is not the case.
How Long Can We Stay Sleepless?
Staying sleepless for a long time is a subject of hidden competition among some young people, who like alcohol more resilient race. Staying longer for long periods is really hard work. The longest recorded insomnia record belongs to Randy Gander, a 17-year-old student from San Diego. 264 hours (about 11 days) sleepless Randy's last days were examined by scientists. The longest insomnia with a controlled group of subjects was 205 hours. No insignificant physical collapse was observed in the insomnia experiments and observations, a small decrease in body temperature, slight fatigue and increased appetite were observed. The effect we all notice is mental, other than chilling and sleeping with junk-food during sleepless nights. In the first days, memory and intelligence are slightly affected, but attention-grabbing difficulties begin. In the following days, a decrease was observed in criteria such as learning, memory and logical thinking. In 1966, the 205-hour experiment could not be remembered, the process of thinking and the ongoing process of hallucinations, the reality extended to the distinction between the imaginary. It did not happen to man, but a longer period is expected to bring death. In an experiment with sleepless rats, death occurred within 2 weeks.
Most of us know that after nights of sleepless or less sleepy, our sleep will be longer than usual. We call it “sleep debt.. After breaking the 264-hour record, Randy recovered greatly after a 15-hour sleep and paid 24% of his “debt”. Sleep debt is not paid by dividing the sleepless period as it is. For example, a person who sleeps for about seven hours a day divides the extra 4-5 hours of sleep increase on other days after one night of insomnia. This leads us to the idea that a part of sleep is indispensable. At the same time, in the sleep following long insomnia, it is deep, rather than transitional; slow sleep and REM stages were observed to be dominant. What are these phases and what can they do?
Stages of sleep and dreams
Our sleep is divided into stages according to EEG measurements at five different frequencies. They are grouped into two main stages, called REM and N-REM. Much of our sleep is more noticeable in the slow wave of N-REM. In a healthy, long sleep, these phases repeat with five cycles of REM periods. REM (Rapid Eye Movements) is the stage where the eye moves fast as if we were awake and looking at something, even though the eyelids were closed. At this stage, the brain has a high energy consumption, very close to the state we are awake. We see our dreams at this stage. There are many hypotheses about the function of dreams and the REM phase, two of which stand out. Our sleep can be a function of strengthening the important data gained during the day, in particular, of the universe, cleaning the trivial ones, and organizing with the old. The necessary synapses are converged and strengthened, and information links are organized. For example, the fact that you have eaten pasta at lunch is not very important and does not need to be transferred to long-term memory. However, if you've eaten pasta by chatting to someone you love, this information can be scraped off by merging and strengthening it. This view argues that dreams are the spectator of neural activity during these procedures. Another important hypothesis is that our dreams evolved in our primitive ancestors in order to predict different scenarios in nature and to be prepared. Such inheritance is advantageous as it increases the chances of survival and will become widespread in the population over time. The fact that we solve problems, think implicitly and make decisions during sleep is more compatible with this hypothesis. Many famous mathematicians have solved some problems in their sleep. Again, during the exam periods, busy employees may remember that they have solved questions in their dreams. Two hypotheses and more may apply together.
We have a lot of data that sleep is not a choice or just an energy saving method. An interesting example is that two brain hemispheres detected in dolphins sleep at different times. Researchers think that this is an adaptation developed by this mammalian family that needs to surface and breathe. In addition, genetic studies show that some inactive gene regions in the brain cells become awake during sleep.
In this article we could not address many remarkable examples, details and titles; You can follow our suggestions. Although we are not yet fully enlightened about humanity in terms of sleep and dreams, science guides us and enlightens us in spite of all charlatanism.
Some Tips for a Healthy and Relaxing Sleep
When and how much? We need to sleep at night due to our biological clock. It is important that we spend between 12 and 3 nights sleeping, on average, when our metabolism is the slowest and sleep chemicals peak. Im I'll get up early. ”Has a real meaning in this sense because the wake-up hormones are activated between 5 and 7 o'clock. It is important not to expect short sleeps because it takes about one and a half hours to get to REM, the most important stage for the brain. For a short sleep, it is ideal between 110-130 minutes when the first cycle is completed, because waking up in the middle of the loop will bring us a dazed vigilance. Moreover, waking up in the middle of REM sleep can lead to a lucid dream that can be controlled; it can also cause a situation called an black step arasında among the people, where consciousness comes into place, the eye is opened but cannot be moved. For fully rested sleep, an average of 7-8 hours in adults and up to 9 hours in young people is required.
What kind of environment? A quiet, dark and slightly cool environment will improve sleep quality. It is also important that any electronic device does not work and that there is no clock that can be easily and frequently maintained. How much we can sleep, if we can hard to sleep over and over time to look at the time created by the tension will make sleep even more difficult. A light location in the morning will make it easier to wake up.
You can drink teas such as linden, centaury, melissa and chamomile before you go to sleep, or you can prefer yoghurt and buttermilk to provide fatigue with lactic acid. Developing a pre-sleep ritual will also make it easier for you to fall asleep over time and conditioned you. You can have drinks as your ritual, or create other rituals such as listening to music or hugging your loved ones. However, listening to music while sleeping will reduce quality. Ritual reading is not recommended because we don't want you to sleep at another time (for example, this magazine). Do not drink alcohol, sleep in bright and light environments, do not exercise or use a computer if possible.
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