![]() ![]() These set points are represented in the brain by specific discharge rates in neurons dedicated to the monitoring and control of specific physiological processes. Physiological set points refer to the baseline level at which functions such as heart rate, and at which chemical compositions such as plasma sodium concentration are normally maintained. Homeostasis is the process by which a steady state of equilibrium, or constancy, in the body with respect to physiological functions and chemical compositions of fluids and tissues is maintained. Patrick Dougherty, Ph.D., Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, MD Anderson Cancer Center “There are many important connections between health and sleep,” says Wu.Chapter 1: Hypothalamus: Structural Organization Sleep also plays a role in metabolism: Even one night of missed sleep can create a prediabetic state in an otherwise healthy person. Immunity is compromised, increasing the likelihood of illness and infection. ![]() ![]() Symptoms of depression, seizures, high blood pressure and migraines worsen. When people don’t get enough sleep, their health risks rise. Sleep is vital to the rest of the body too. Researchers also believe that sleep may promote the removal of waste products from brain cells-something that seems to occur less efficiently when the brain is awake. If we sleep too little, we become unable to process what we’ve learned during the day and we have more trouble remembering it in the future. First, a healthy amount of sleep is vital for “brain plasticity,” or the brain’s ability to adapt to input. If you have ever felt foggy after a poor night’s sleep, it won’t surprise you that sleep significantly impacts brain function. Napping for more than 30 minutes later in the day can throw off your night’s sleep by decreasing your body’s sleep drive. When you’re exhausted, your body is even able to engage in microsleep episodes of one or two seconds while your eyes are open. A major difference between sleep and hunger: Your body can’t force you to eat when you’re hungry, but when you’re tired, it can put you to sleep, even if you’re in a meeting or behind the wheel of a car. Throughout the day, your desire for sleep builds, and when it reaches a certain point, you need to sleep. Sleep drive also plays a key role: Your body craves sleep, much like it hungers for food. People with total blindness often have trouble sleeping because they are unable to detect and respond to these light cues. One key function of this clock is responding to light cues, ramping up production of the hormone melatonin at night, then switching it off when it senses light. On a typical night, you’ll cycle through four or five times.Īccording to Wu, there are two main processes that regulate sleep: circadian rhythms and sleep drive.Ĭircadian rhythms are controlled by a biological clock located in the brain. The cycle then repeats itself, but with each cycle you spend less time in the deeper stages three and four of sleep and more time in REM sleep. Breath rate increases and the body becomes temporarily paralyzed as we dream. Though REM sleep was previously believed to be the most important sleep phase for learning and memory, newer data suggests that non-REM sleep is more important for these tasks, as well as being the more restful and restorative phase of sleep.Īs you cycle into REM sleep, the eyes move rapidly behind closed lids, and brain waves are similar to those during wakefulness. The third and fourth stages are deep sleep. The second is light sleep, when heart rate and breathing regulate and body temperature drops. The first stage comes between being awake and falling asleep. The first part of the cycle is non-REM sleep, which is composed of four stages. Throughout your time asleep, your brain will cycle repeatedly through two different types of sleep: REM (rapid-eye movement) sleep and non-REM sleep. Here is a glimpse into the powerful (often surprising) findings of sleep researchers-and what they’re still trying to discover about the science of sleep. “But it turns out that sleep is a period during which the brain is engaged in a number of activities necessary to life-which are closely linked to quality of life,” says Johns Hopkins sleep expert and neurologist Mark Wu, M.D., Ph.D. Researchers like Wu are spending many of their waking hours trying to learn more about these processes and how they affect mental and physical health. Before the 1950s, most people believed sleep was a passive activity during which the body and brain were dormant. ![]()
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