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Why We Sleep (And Some Data About Dreams)

A person spends an average of 25 years sleeping, and according to experts, while we sleep we go through different stages (we don’t dream in all of them). But why do we sleep and dream? This is an issue that is still being explored. For example, in the light of evolutionary theories and psychology, the function of sleep would be to help us solve problems, while other theories indicate that it serves to restore the organism and even as a rejuvenation process.

O awesome.club researched some of the theories that help us understand why we sleep and dream. At the bonusyou will find some dreams that changed history.

For the body to restore and rejuvenate

The body’s restorative functions, such as muscle growth, tissue repair, protein synthesis, and growth hormone release, occur primarily during sleep. Thus, one of the possible reasons why we sleep is related to the body’s restoration process, which also favors its rejuvenation.

As an extra piece of information, when we don’t sleep well, this is usually reflected on the face, resulting in dark circles under the eyes. One of the tricks that can be used to minimize them is to do a gentle massage, starting at the tear duct and moving your fingers towards the dark circles area. To neutralize them with makeup, use a little pink concealer.

To work on problem solving

There is also a theory that dreams could have evolved to be useful for solving problems, mainly of two kinds. The first are those that must be visualized in the mind (like an inventor imagining a new device). The second category is linked to problems that require an unconventional approach.

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About this, a psychologist from Harvard University, USA, reported that she asked some students to choose a problem and try to solve it during a dream. After a week, approximately half had dreamed about the problem and a quarter of the students had managed to solve it. So when problems are relatively easy, it seems that some people manage to solve them in their sleep.

To consolidate memory and learning

Another suggestion is that sleep plays an important role in memory, both before and after learning a new task. According to some research, memory consolidation occurs during sleep, thanks to the strengthening of neural connections that form memories.

On the other hand, poor sleep and inadequate rest could make overworked neurons work inefficiently when it comes to coordinating information. In this way, our ability to access what we have previously learned may diminish. Furthermore, lack of sleep could affect a person’s emotional state, motivation, and even judgment and perception.

For the brain to clean

During our life, we constantly receive information, much of which is unnecessary. To understand how they are retained in the brain, a group of scientists analyzed the mechanisms involved in memory maintenance, especially during the sleep phase of greater relaxation and deep rest.

The results suggest that, when sleeping, the neural connections that collect relevant information are strengthened and those created from irrelevant data are weakened, until they disappear.

For dreams can serve as a simulator of events

The biological function of dreaming could be the simulation of threatening events, with the aim of examining the perception of dangers and working out how to avoid them. Thus, it is possible that, in reality, the content of dreams is organized and selective.

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This means that during sleep, according to this argument, the brain builds a complex model of the world, in which certain types of elements are under-represented, while others are over-represented and are modulated by some waking experiences.

The reasons could change over the years

It is possible that sleep functions change with age. At least that’s what research focused on showing how babies spend most of their sleep hours in the REM phase suggests, while their brains build new connections between neurons.

Then, before reaching the age of 3, hours of REM sleep begin to decrease as the brain switches to maintenance mode, primarily using sleep time to clean and repair.

In addition, the amount of sleep a person needs is influenced by several factors, including age. Therefore, the following quantities are recommended:

Newborns: 16 to 18 hours a day;

Preschoolers: 11 to 12 hours a day;

School age children: at least 10 hours a day;

Teenagers: 9 to 10 hours a day;

Adults (including the elderly): 7 to 8 hours a day.

In addition, we dream in specific stages

Human beings go through two stages of sleep, which alternate successively between four and five times during the night. In an eight-hour sleep cycle, the first leg covers approximately six hours (75%) and the second about two hours (25%).

The first stage, known as non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, is divided into four phases:

Initially, the person is between awake and asleep and could enter a superficial sleep. In the second phase, a deeper sleep is reached and the person disconnects from the surroundings. In phases three and four, sleep is even deeper and more restorative, energy is restored and hormones are released.

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On the other hand, in the second stage, we go through the so-called rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. It happens approximately between 70 and 90 minutes after falling asleep and at successively longer intervals. During this stage, the brain is active and dreams, while the body relaxes and is still; at the same time, the organism as a whole recovers its energies.

Bonus: dreams that made history

1. In a dream, the idea of ​​​​creating Frankenstein came up

In 1816, while spending the summer in Geneva (Switzerland), the writer Mary Shelley came up with the idea for her novel frankenstein during a dream.

2. Paul McCartney dreamed of a hit song

According to the biographers of the musician and the band The BeatlesPaul McCartney composed the melody of “Yesterday” during a dream he had at his girlfriend’s house in London.

3. Niels Bohr saw the structure of atoms in a dream

The structure of the atom was discovered by Niels Bohr. They say that it was during a dream that he was able to see that the electrons revolved around the nucleus, as in the solar system. Soon he sought to prove the hypothesis he had dreamed of and found that the atomic structure was indeed similar to that in his dream.

For you, what is the meaning of dreams? Have you ever had a dream that helped you solve a problem?

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