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What’s Going on While you are Sleeping?
You May Not Even Be Aware
The Things You Don’t Know While You Are Sleeping
We have had piped into our heads since time eternal that we should all get 7 to 8 hours of sleep if we want to create a healthy sleep habit. Some people have difficult attaining 7 hours. Some people insist they do fine with much less. But if we are getting 7 hours of sleep at night, we are sleeping just over 29% of our 24 hour day. How well you sleep may have a lot to do with how good such a sleep habit is feeling once morning. comes and you pull yourself out of bed.
In a Psychology class I am taking, I became aware that there are things going on during our time asleep. For example, we know that brain wave patterns change. There is rapid eye movement during what is called REM sleep. There is a release of hormones. The body relaxes. And the brain will consolodate memories as we cycle through varying stages of activity. Dreams may occure during REM. What is happening allows us to be about the work of shoring up memories that can later be retrieved. It is the release of hormones that strengthen our memories.
We are undergoing chemical changes in our brain as we sleep. There is a lot going on up there all the time you are supposed to be getting rest. Sounds crazy, I know. Still…
