Physiology of Sleep

       We spend about 8 hours/day, 56 hours/week, 224 hours/month and 2,688 hours/year sleeping. We devote nearly one third of our lives to sleep. For what reason? Why do we sleep so much? Resting is only one reason why we sleep. We sleep to learn and process information, too. We need sleep so much that if we miss one night of sleep, our body tries to recover what was lost subsequent nights. Sleep is essential, without it, we feel weak and dull. Sleep appears to be universal; every species has some kind of sleep.

       In order to try to understand sleep, we must become familiar with some common vocabulary in this field. I think by starting to explain a little bit about the brain could be helpful. This portion of the site will further discuss the different mechanisms of sleep, the stages of sleep and theories of why we sleep.

Click on the links below to learn more about the physiology of sleep: