Sciences has proven that sleep is required to clear the by-products of neural activity that build-up when people are awake , if they build up they cause diseases like Alzheimer's
Now scientists have finally discovered why we need to spend so much time sleeping - it helps clear the mind of the day’s chemical clutter.
While our body is at rest, the brain is hard at work removing toxins produced during our waking hours.
Left to build up, these compounds can result in Alzheimer’s and other neurological diseases.
The researchers conclude the clean-up process is so energy intensive, it would hinder our thinking if done when we are awake - hence the need to sleep.
‘This study shows that the brain has different functional states when asleep and when awake,’ said lead researcher Dr Maiken Nedergaard, from the University of Rochester Medical Centre (URMC), in New York.
‘In fact, the restorative nature of sleep appears to be the result of the active clearance of the by-products of neural activity that accumulate during wakefulness.’
The purpose of slumber has been debated for centuries, with Thomas Edison branding it ‘a criminal waste of time.’
And although practically every species needs to sleep, many have suggested it is a faulty evolutionary hang-up that makes us more vulnerable to predators.
The team found that unlike the rest of the body, which depends on the lymphatic system to drain away toxins, the brain has its own separate method of rubbish removal.
Scans on mice revealed the amount of energy used by the brain did not dramatically fall during sleep.
No comments:
Post a Comment