10 most interesting sleep incidents

For most people, the word "sleep" is synonymous with calmness and relaxation after a long day. In fact, in this unconscious mode, the body undergoes a lot of changes. He carefully disposes of the damage he has taken and prepares for the new day by continuously sorting, rebuilding, and refurbishing. Therefore, each time you wake up "a different person", think about how close this expression is to the truth.

10. Keeping memories

People are restless creatures. We constantly go somewhere, do something and communicate with someone, simultaneously postponing memories. But the file is useless if it cannot be found. All computer users with a clogged desktop know about this.

During sleep, the brain reproduces, catalogs and postpones events for preservation, discarding all unnecessary. The retention of long-term memories plays a critical role in a person's ability to function normally. Long-term memory is basically unlimited, so bright moments will surely stay with you for years to come.

Sometimes we recall childhood scenes more easily than the events of the past week. These are tricks of the memory, which is responsible for learning and preserving the most useful information. Its main activity occurs during the deep phase of slow wave sleep, which is comparable to the state of daytime brain activity. At the moment when consciousness goes into rest, the brain turns on the mode of stabilization of the most important life memories in order to quickly recreate them if necessary.

9. Decrease in temperature and blood pressure

Half an hour before bedtime, the body lowers the body temperature. This is done to lower your metabolic rate to avoid feeling hungry at night. As a result, the heartbeat slows down and blood pressure decreases. The temperature also drops to 35.6 degrees Celsius, which is only 1 degree away from hypothermia. There is no chance of freezing during sleep, as the body needs less energy.

After waking up, pressure and heart rate are restored at an accelerated rate to match the level of energy expended. True, a short-term imbalance occurs, which leads to foggy thinking and inertia - typical symptoms after awakening.

8. Paralysis

Remember the nightmares during which you can't run, scream, or move? So, this phenomenon ("sleep paralysis"), although terrifying, but quite natural. During sleep, the brain blocks neurotransmitters and muscle receptors, thereby effectively paralyzing the entire body. Sometimes this happens during falling asleep or awakening, when consciousness is clear, and there is no opportunity to move.

Due to its creepiness, this state has become the basis for many myths and legends, inextricably linked with the phenomena of hallucinations. In them, immobilized people are visited by demons or similar mythical monsters (from characters of Anglo-Saxon legends to creatures from Chinese folklore).

7. Stretching

During the daytime, due to the force of gravity and compression of the vertebrae, the spine is under pressure. Because of this, the fluid from the spinal disc is displaced, and growth by the evening decreases by about 1 cm.And when the back is in the supine position, the fluid returns back, again increasing the growth by the same indicator.

Although the difference of 1 cm is not large, getting rid of the load also allows you to grow while you sleep. In fact, growth is only possible during sleep. This is due to both the release of spinal pressure, and predominantly nightly production of growth hormones.

6. Sleepwalking

Not everyone suffers from it, but almost one third of the population has experienced this condition at least once in their life. Technically, sleepwalking is sleep disturbance, when the brain is on the verge of unconsciousness performing difficult tasks, such as getting out of bed, going to the kitchen, and even driving.

Sleepwalking is an alarming phenomenon, but it is quite common, especially among children. Friends, parents and roommates of sleepwalkers note their dazed and confused state during any bizarre activities (for example, cooking), only after completing which they are able to return to bed.

Scientists are still not sure for what specific reason people wander in their sleep. Some experiments have shown that genetics may be to blame. Sleepwalking often occurs during slow wave sleep, when the brain processes the memories it received during the day.

This may explain the short-term memory flaws of sleepwalkers. When they wake up in the morning, they cannot remember a minute of their nightly adventures.

5. Spasms

When we fall asleep, the body twitches. Every time. As mentioned above, during sleep, the body is often paralyzed so that during dreams we do not move in reality. But there is one moment when we are neither sleeping nor awake.

It's kind of like a hypnotic dream. It is believed that this is the time to delay the sending of the “relax” signal from the brain to the nervous system. How exactly this works is not fully understood. Some scientists believe that this is a relic of a primitive reflex, which misinterprets falling asleep as a sudden landing from a tree.

Regardless of the reason, hypnotic sleep is another evidence of the most complex unconscious processes. We experience them while actually being awake. Sometimes it can be so strong that it leads to awakening.

4. The brain uses more energy

The bulk of the energy produced during wakefulness (approximately 80%) is involved in physical activity, breathing and speaking. During sleep, these actions are not performed, so that excess energy is sent directly to the brain.

This means that the brain consumes even more energy during certain stages of sleep than during daytime activity. Sleep is a full time of the brain, a kind of leisure, during which it puts in order the processes that allow you to perform energy-consuming tasks and make difficult decisions during the day.

3. Weight loss

Have you ever woken up from your sleep with excruciating thirst? The reason for this is the evaporation of about 0.5 liters of water at night. The air inside the lungs is quite warm (about 36.7 degrees Celsius) and humid. The average room temperature is below 36.7 degrees Celsius, so the cold air flow you inhale shrinks your lungs and draws moisture out of your body. During one breath, approximately 0.02 g of water is lost. About half a liter comes out throughout the night.

Carbon has a similar but less dramatic effect. Everyone knows that we inhale oxygen (2 atoms) and exhale carbon dioxide (3 atoms). When, during breathing, 1 atom more comes out than it enters, then the mass decreases.

As a result, about 0.7 kg of mass disappears during each night's rest. The same processes take place during the daytime, but carbon and moisture are replenished by drinks and food.

2. Cleansing the brain

During wakefulness, toxins and other waste products are deposited in the cells of the body and brain. The body shuts down before bed, and the brain begins to function. Essentially, it opens a valve that allows cerebrospinal fluid to flow from the vertebral regions to the brain to cleanse the body and detoxify toxic waste.

This process is part of a more complex cycle. This cycle is called cellular respiration. It is a series of reactions that improves the ability of cells to recover energy from food and maintain the functionality of the body as a whole. Toxins eliminated during sleep are a residual effect of this process.

Although this cleansing is complete throughout the body, its effects are most visible in the area of the brain where the effects of inadequate sleep are noted. Cerebral blockage is one of the main causes of disgusting mood after prolonged and healthy sleep.

1. Dreams

It is impossible not to mention dreams, which are an integral part of the life of every person. But scientists, even at the present time, cannot really explain this phenomenon. So the question "Why do we dream" still remains unresolved.

If you try to remember the plots of dreams, then they will seem outright implausible. Every night, the brain forms an imaginary world that is only within the head, but we perceive it as quite real. Upon awakening, almost all traces of this imaginary reality disappear. It sounds strange, but dreams are taken for granted, comparable to brushing your teeth or going to work.

Although the true meaning of dreams is still a mystery, the processes associated with them are still clear: strengthening long-term memory, eliminating brain toxins, increasing the properties of activity, etc.

But this question is not new. The true purpose of dreams has been the subject of human obsession for millennia, as evidenced by the writings of the ancient Greeks and Egyptians. Despite the existing progress and technical equipment, theories about the origin of this mysterious phenomenon remain theories.