We spend approximately a third of our life sleeping, yet we don’t know why we need to. And if we try not to, dire consequences follow. Why do we need approximately eight hours of sleep a night?
[One] major function of sleep is reorganising and reconfiguring the neural connections in our brains to respond to the myriad sensory inputs we continuously receive…. To stay efficient and effective, it also involves the pruning of seldom-used synapses, the rearranging and discarding of old pathways and connections, and the construction of new ones.
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After all, it would be foolhardy and probably dangerous to make repairs to your car while driving it. That’s why you stop the motor and take it to a mechanic.
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Similarly, major repairs to downtown roads or subway systems, clearing city trash, and upgrades to computer systems and networks are usually conducted on nights or weekends when there are significantly fewer users.
This rationale is why our brains and bodies seemingly ‘shut down’ when carrying out the majority of the necessary repairs and reorganisation, leaving less chance for potential conflicts and disruptions to our day-to-day operations. And that’s why we need time to sleep.
