Have you ever wondered why we sleep? This is the great importance of sleep – teach me about science

When we refer to sleep, we know that it is a process vital to the survival of all animals, and even if it is carried out to a greater or lesser degree, all animals must do so.

In fact, neuronal repair, purification of substances, such as metabolites, and communication repair all go into the sleep process. However, this is still a topic of debate, because, as curious as it sounds, we can sleep up to a third of our lives, so the study of physiology and evolutionary function continues.

In a study conducted by Cao’s team, there are two hypotheses reported to define the most important functions that sleep performs, the first telling us that it is a repair of neurons to correct damage and prevent future states, while the second tells us about neural rearrangements that become relevant to carrying out learning processes and maintaining synaptic homeostasis. . Both are valid hypotheses, because in reality in both cases it is not possible or becomes too complicated to implement them in the waking state.

So far we have information telling us that prolonged inhibition of sleep can cause the death of the organism (rats, dogs, fruit flies and humans) and it has become possible that this is caused by the accumulation of damage in the cells naturally. Sleeping conditions will be corrected, we call it removing harmful factors or repairing cells during sleep.

Another recent hypothesis highlighted by the study is that it is removal or purification due to a deficiency in the brain’s internal lymphatic system, suggesting that the meningeal lymphatic system is responsible through the cerebrospinal fluid recycling of all waste. created for later disposal.

However, it has also been reported that, rather, it is a synaptic reorganization that goes hand in hand with learning and memory, in other words, during sleep we reproduce what we have learned during the day as if we were studying it in favor of memory and retention. From past events during waking time.

Sleep also increases synapses, favoring learning and selecting synapses that are less frequently used. A related fact discussed in the study is that sleep duration is inferred due to different mammalian masses, in the words of the author “less sleep time is needed for repair and maintenance in large animals,” referring to the fact that cellular damage decreases.

Certainly, although more research is needed to better understand the processes that go along with sleep, it is appropriate to say that it is undoubtedly essential for the proper functioning of the body.

The information was published in the magazine science advances.