Something that i've been thinking alot about lately is why do we actually need sleep?! What is its purpose?

 

I ask this question knowing that obviously sleep is when we conserve energy so to speak, but what I'm wondering is why do we need this? I mean surely we are still active when we sleep i.e. dreaming and still using energy in order to stay alive i.e. vital organs still functioning...I guess i'm just curious!

 

Elle

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep#Functions

 

Is that enough?

Not for me!

Ah, classic Pangloss.

Well, what else are you looking for?

It appears Elle88 is satisfied...

I haven't yet looked at it, but I'm confident that the link in antimatter's post covers this.

 

Sleep allows for the reorganization of cortical structure. The day's experiences are converted to memory, and learned actions/behaviors are made into a more complete (for lack of a better word) substrate of our being.

 

My cognition professor at uni used to say that "sleep is food for the brain." It's about having tme to reorganize new things and strengthen important things. You'd quite literally go crazy without sleep because none of your neural connections would be cohesive.

Thanks for all your replies!!

 

Elle