While we sleep, most people assume that the brain is in a state of rest, relaxation, tranquility, however, this is not the case, it is the time when many neurological phenomena happen. A sleeping brain is invaded by a great activity similar to the great telluric movements that occur on the earth and that although it seems contradictory are essential to keep us calm and restful.
According to a scientific study, it reveals that the mathematical laws that govern the state of sleep and brain activity are similar to those that underlie an earthquake. Plamen Ivanov, a physicist at the University of Boston, says that the human brain suddenly changes from one stage of sleep to another, causing micro-changes. Every night our brain goes from light to deep sleep in a series of stages and happening around every 90 minutes. Each of these stages has a mission such as keeping the brain rested or helping to consolidate memory.
With the use of rat models, he and a group of other scientists discovered that physical activity in the sleeping brain follows certain patterns linked to particular events. These intense excitations, these micro earthquakes are not harmful; on the contrary, they are essential to maintain sleep.
Ivanov explains that in deep sleep the brain has bursts of other rhythms apart from the delta and theta waves. This led to the finding that rapid bursts of theta wave are followed by an “active phase” of brain activity. Then, suddenly there are gusts of delta waves, followed by an “inactive phase” of relative inactivity.
That is why this phenomenon of active and inactive phases that occur at brain level resembles the process experienced in earthquakes that are also characterized by bursts of activity followed by quiet stages. The results are different: earthquakes and the brain are linked by the same type of math, Inanov added.
This scientific work highlights the incredibly neuronal stunts that the human brain does every time we fall asleep. These gusts of rebellious waves are necessary to keep the bodies asleep in their state of deep rest.
Another activity the brain does while you sleep.
Sleep is one of the most important elements of our health. Many studies reveal the great benefits that sleep produces, but also the damage caused to our health if we do not rest properly. This recovery phase for our organism allows us to fully recharge our physical and mental batteries.
These are some of the phenomena that happen at the brain level while we sleep:
* One of the things to which the brain is engaged during the hours of sleep is to carry out the cleaning of harmful particles or debris that can accumulate in the body. Studies show that waste disposal systems in the brain are activated during sleep. Cerebrospinal fluid is pumped faster throughout the brain and acts by eliminating waste products, such as molecular waste produced by brain cells and toxic proteins that can lead to dementia over time.
* Another important event that the brain performs while we sleep is to create and consolidate memories. During sleep, the brain can transfer short-term information and recent events to long-term memory. That is why sleep plays such an important role in learning, literally helping us solidify new information in the brain to remember them later.
The brain seems to be a machine made to stay functioning 24 hours a day, its essential active and inactive stages can only happen while we sleep. That is why it is so necessary to obtain good sleep for achieving a state of optimal mental and physical health.
