In this article You’ll discover why your sleep and dream is so important for learning and memory. You’ll also realize how important getting a good night’s sleep is for your health.
What would happen if we didn’t get enough sleep?
Sleep frequently appears to be a complete waste of time, especially when we consider that we spend nearly one-third of our lives sleeping.
However, medical research has shown that consistently getting less than the recommended 7 to 8 hours of sleep per night for adults and 9 to 10 hours of sleep for adolescents has significant consequences.
Why is sleep a necessity rather than a luxury?
Many of us have unconsciously accepted the notion that sleep deprivation is the path to success as a result of societal influence. It’s true that most people probably don’t sleep as little as Randy did during the experiment. Many people, however, continue to suffer from insomnia.
Sleep is not a waste of time or an elegant way to relax after we have completed all of our important tasks. Instead, it is an important function that your body uses to balance and regulate its vital systems. This process regulates everything from circulation to growth and immune response, including respiration.
Sleep is also extremely important for your brain. In fact, as you sleep, one-fifth of your body’s circulatory blood flows to your brain. During sleep, the brain undergoes a highly active period of restructuring that is critical to how our memories function.
Memory consolidation refers to the process of moving information from our short-term memory to our long-term memory. This procedure has been shown to prevent memory loss. A good night’s sleep is one of the most important factors in memory consolidation.
How the Different Stages of Sleep Aid Learning
Sleep is divided into four stages, each of which has been shown to aid in the consolidation of various types of memories. Declarative memory, for example, is encoded into a temporary store in the anterior part of the hippocampus during non-REM slow-wave sleep. Declarative memory includes the recall of facts needed for a test.
During this stage of sleep, the cortex and hippocampus communicate constantly, and the memory is repeatedly reactivated to gradually redistribute it for long-term storage in the brain cortex.
Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep is the stage during which we have extremely vivid dreams. This stage is associated with procedural memory consolidation. A memory of the piano fingering steps and patterns of a musical piece you’re learning to play is an example.
Finally, recent research has revealed another major benefit of sleep. This is due to the fact that sleep aids in the removal of all the debris that accumulates as a result of our daily thinking.
The flow of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain increases dramatically during sleep, this fluid washes away harmful waste proteins that accumulate between brain cells.
Finally
The quality of your waking life is directly related to the quality of your sleep. It has an impact on your productivity, learning, creativity, emotional well-being, and physical vitality. In fact, no other activity provides so many benefits while requiring so little effort.
