Sleep is about memory and clarity, studies have shown

Science Jamie Simon
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Seems that we should take the expression “sleep on it” more literally than we thought.

Wonder why is that?

For many years, the researchers have tried to figure out why we need our sleep so much and why we cannot live without it.

The reason we sleep or the reason we should sleep one-third of the day is that our brain can delete some old memories so that we have enough space for new ones we create.

One of the scientists claims that sleeping pills, even though they induce sleep and might seem like they work for a good night rest, they could harm this process that our brain naturally generates, named “scaling down”.

The researchers have conducted an experiment on mice, subjecting them to an electric shock in an unfamiliar place, as a part of them were sedated with sleeping pills.

When they were put in a new place after the experience, the mice that did not explore the place as they would do in normal conditions.

However, the sedated mice froze more often as they’d fear the shock. The memory seemed to be still fresh in their brains.

The research is bringing awareness again to the importance of naturally induced sleep. Scientists said that sleep deprivation could cause serious damage to the brain and our memories could be lost.

In another study, the brain of mice was scanned during sleep, proving that the brain is not actually sleeping, but recalibrating itself for the next day, making space for creating new memories and deleting those that we don’t need anymore.