The Importance of Sleep
Sleep has long been viewed as the time when the brain and body are in a kind of dormant state. But research shows that while you’re getting your beauty rest, your muscles are working to repair themselves and your brain is sweeping out the waste products of daily life. This is a huge part of what makes slumber so crucial to our mental and physical health. If you’re not getting enough sleep, it can lead to weight gain, high stress levels, heart disease, depression and a host of other problems. And if you’re suffering from mental illness, it can also be tough to get a good night’s rest because of the thoughts and worries that may keep you up at night.
This is why the sleep of a healthy person is so important, and why it’s so surprising that so many people struggle to do their best in this area. The good news is that the latest science points to a path forward that can help us all be better at sleeping.
The ubiquity of the sleep phenomenon is matched by its complexity. While all mammals sleep, for example, not all do so at the same time or to the same degree (Cirelli and Tononi, 2008). And while there are a number of different definitions of sleep, what we now know is that it’s a highly active process, a sequence of patterns in brain activity.
Researchers around the world, including those at UChicago, which opened the first laboratory focused exclusively on sleep in 1925, have helped clarify major questions about the biological processes involved in sleep and its role in maintaining mental and physical health. Here are some of the key things we’re learning:
1. During sleep, the brain clears out toxins, clearing away protein debris that accumulates during wakefulness and that can lead to inflammation and cell death. The brain’s natural drainage system is activated during sleep, and a recent study of mice suggests that this process removes toxins associated with Alzheimer’s twice as fast as it does in the awake state (Kohl and Kleitman, 2022).
2. Sleep helps strengthen memories by consolidating the connections between neurons. And it also helps the immune system by lowering cortisol, which can trigger symptoms such as headaches and anxiety and increase a person’s chances of having a mood disorder.
3. Local slow waves are generated in the brain during sleep, and this can make a difference in memory performance. The generative mechanisms behind these local slow waves are still under investigation, but they’re thought to be different from the global slow waves that are triggered by subcortical inputs and the thalamus during wakefulness.
4. Sleep can boost productivity by helping you to respond faster to stressful situations and making it easier to concentrate. And it can give you a better outlook on the day ahead, so that you’re more prepared to face challenges and overcome them.
The bottom line is that sleep can help you do just about anything you want to do, and it’s a huge component of your mental and physical wellbeing. So if you’re having trouble with your sleep, it’s worth taking steps to try and fix the problem—whether that’s by changing your habits, seeing a doctor or trying one of these new sleep products.