What Is The Purpose Of Sleep?

The physical state of sleep is a naturally recurring process in which the body experiences

reduced or absent consciousness, suspended or diminished sensory activity and the complete inactivity of nearly all of the bodys voluntary muscles. Scientifically sleep can be described as a heightened anabolic state that accentuates the growth and rejuvenation of the immune, nervous, skeletal and even the bodys muscle systems. The sleep process can be observed in all mammals and birds as well as in some reptiles and fish.

The purpose of sleep

Although not fully understood by modern day science, sleep is still the subject of many in-depth scientific studies. These studies have all concluded that sleep is the physical process of conserving energy and allows for the decreases of the bodys metabolism by anything between the 5 and 10 percent.

Did you know? Sleep and hibernation is not the same thing. In fact, a hibernating animal still needs to sleep despite the hypo metabolism process that the hibernating animal experiences. During this hibernation process an animal needs to return its body state from a hypothermic state to a euthermic state in order to sleep. This makes sleeping an energetically expensive process for hibernating animals.

Types of sleep

There are two types of sleep in mammals and birds, namely rapid eye movement or REM sleep and non-rapid eye movement or NREM (also called non-REM) sleep. Both types of sleep have very distinctive physiological and neurological features attributed to them.

Did you know? The American Academy of Sleep Medicine has further divided NREM into three different sub stages of sleep. These stages are: N1, N2, and N3 sleep, with N3 also being referred to as delta or slow-wave sleep.

The stages of sleep:

NREM Sleep Stage 1: This stage of sleep is found between actual sleep and wakefulness. It is commonly known as dozing and the bodys muscles are still active.

NREM Sleep Stage 2: The theta activity stage, it is now more difficult to awaken the sleeper.

NREM Sleep Stage 3: This stage is called the slow wave sleep stage. During this stage the sleeper is less responsive to the environmental and outside stimuli no longer produce any reaction.

REM Sleep Stage: During this stage of sleep the sleepers eye movement increases and most muscles are paralyzed. This sleeping stage is also referred to as the paradoxical stage as the sleeper, although exhibiting EEG waves similar to a waking state, is now much harder to wake than in any other stage.

by: Justin Swanich

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