Digital Desk: You work hard during the week to meet deadlines, make presentations, socialise, and do all of your household tasks, leaving you with very little time to sleep. You look forward to the weekend to get some rest, but instead, you end yourself binge-watching your favourite TV show and sleeping poorly. Sleep deprivation can jeopardise both your physical and emotional well-being. If you've been trapped in this never-ending cycle, you'll know that getting a decent night's sleep is something that we all need for our bodies to function properly. Many of us are well aware of how sleep benefits the brain and aids in weight loss, heart health, heart strength, enhancing athletic performance, lowering the risk of type 2 diabetes, and reducing inflammation.
While the physical benefits of sleep are well-known, it's also important to remember that getting enough sleep can help your brain in various ways. Dr Parthvi Khandar Ravat, Neurologist aka pkdoc, discusses how sleep benefits the brain, ranging from cell regeneration to improved attention.
Benefits of Sleep
Sleep is a natural brief condition of rest in which a person becomes physically inactive and unconscious of what is going on around them. A good night's sleep is believed to be essential for optimum body functioning because this is when your body repairs itself from daily wear and tear. We've compiled a list of some of the cognitive advantages of sleeping.
It aids memory consolidation
One of the most well-known aspects of sleep is memory consolidation. It accomplishes this by bolstering the brain's neuronal connections while pruning the ones that aren't needed. Not all of the connections our brain makes throughout the day are useful or worth retaining. A good night's sleep aids your brain's ability to streamline these connections and consolidate memories.
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Helps in flushing out toxins
Similarly to how detoxifying liquids help you wash out dangerous toxins from your body, a good night's sleep helps you flush out toxins from your brain. When you're sleeping, your brain tends to clean poisons out more quickly than when you're awake. Because our brain's lymphatic system tends to open up at night, it aids in the removal of pollutants.
Improves Concentration
Many people are easily distracted as a result of the introduction of cellphones and constant communication through social media, resulting in a shorter attention span and poorer concentration. Sleep deprivation has been linked to decreased concentration and attentiveness. When a person is sleep deprived, it is difficult for him or her to complete duties or focus effectively. It leaves you perplexed, impairs your logical reasoning, and causes you to make rash decisions. Lack of sleep makes it harder to appraise a situation accurately, and as a result, a person loses focus.
Assists in the Regeneration of Physical Cells
It is scientifically known that enough sleep aids in the regeneration and support of brain cells. This occurs because sleep aids in the creation of cells responsible for the formation of myelin. The insulating substance myelin is found on nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. This myelin is made up of a fatty material that allows electrical impulses to pass through nerve cells efficiently and swiftly. It then operates by reducing reaction time, increasing nerve impulse conduction speed, and increasing temporal precision.
Helps in Immune System Regularization
Since the virus outbreak and emergence of pandemic, immunity and ways to boost the immune system function are the two things people have been talking about. We all have tried drinking that bitter kadha and have started exercising to boost this immune system functioning; one must know that a good night's sleep can do it with little to no effort. Sleeping is known to strengthen a person's immune system and protect him/her from any kind of disease and infection. On the other hand, sleep, deprivation or lack of sleep can result in impaired immunity. Some researchers have also proven that proper sleep also helps in improving the body's antibody response.
These are some ways how sleep benefits the brain as per neurologists.
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