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Want to have a healthy brain? Make sure you're washing it every day
Sleep washes the brain
A recent study reveals that our bodies use the REM period of sleep - the dreamless and deep part - to cleanse our brain of toxins.
When the neurons in the brain quiet down, they need less oxygen and blood. At that point, cerebrospinal fluid - the liquid surrounding the brain - floods the space, cleaning the brain of potentially toxic chemical byproducts.
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Sleep And The Process Of Keeping Our Brains Healthy
- Quality sleep is the one universal factor that can keep our brain healthy.
- Sleep is so important that mammals die in about a week if they are completely deprived of sleep.
Neurophysiology 101
- Neurons are the nervous system cells transmitting electromagnetic signals using action potentials and neurotransmitters.
- Glia is the non-neuronal system cell keeping the neurons healthy and working.
- Cerebrospinal Fluid or CSF is the fluid that our brain lives in.
- Arteries are the blood vessels that carry blood to an organ.
- Veins are the blood vessels carrying blood from the organ.
The Brain Is Like A City
Complex cycles and systems operate in the brain. The Glymphatic (or Glial Lymphatic) system, discovered recently, takes care of the brain waste much like a complex sewer system.
The system is only active when one is asleep, and it clears our brain of all neurotoxic substances that have collected during the day.
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Our sleep-wake pattern
Our molecular clock inside our cells aims to keep us in sync with the sun.
When we disregard this circadian rhythm, we are at a greater risk for illnesses such as diabetes, heart...
The lifestyle imbalance
Thomas Edison said that sleep is "a bad habit." Like Edison, we seem to think of sleep as an adversary and try to fight it at every turn. The average American sleeps less than the recommended seven hours per night, mostly due to electric lights, television, computers, and smartphones.
However, we are ignoring the intricate journey we're designed to take when we sleep.
Stage One Sleep
When we fall asleep, the nearly 86 billion neurons in our brain starts to fire evenly and rhythmically. Our sensory receptors become muffled at the same time.
The first stage of shallow sleep lasts for about 5 minutes.
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Consequences Of Too Little Sleep
It is common knowledge that we need to sleep to be our best. And constant sleep loss has serious effects, including death.
Sleep is a neurological activity, and still, sleep-deprived cr...
No Sleep = No Restoration
Sleep, according to deep research on flies, has a function of reversing the ancient biochemical process of oxidation. Without sleep, there is no restoration possible.
Sleep studies prove it is worse than starvation, as early studies (19th century) conducted on puppies showed that they died in about five days if deprived of sleep and kept in motion.
Reactive Oxygen Species
... or ROS is a molecule that builds up in the intestines of animals that are denied sleep.
Studies conducted on fruit flies and mice showed rising levels of ROS when kept in sleep deprivation.
Antioxidants, when given to sleep-deprived flies, made them healthy and active again, proving that the artificial restoration is possible.