"The Science of Sleep: What Happens to Your Body While You Rest"
Writer: Myra Jaggi
Editor: Maryam Khan
“Oh my god I’m so tired, I went to bed at like 1 last night…I need to start sleeping earlier.” Sound familiar? You have likely heard this many times, from friends, colleagues, and even yourself. We are all aware that we should be sleeping earlier, but what is the real reason behind the importance of sleep? What happens to our bodies while we sleep and what are the consequences when we don’t get enough of it?
Good sleep is essential for numerous reasons, one being the fact that it contributes positively to your mental wellness. Proper rest is important for mood regulation and attentive learning. These traits are both achieved through an essential process which stems from good rest: REM sleep. You may have heard this term before, but few people know what it means. REM sleep is a part of the body's sleep cycle, each cycle lasting around 80-100 minutes. One will typically experience 6 REM cycles each night, assuming that they are sleeping around 8 hours. REM stands for rapid eye movement, and during this process, one’s eyes move rapidly behind their closed eyelids, their heart rate speeds up, breathing becomes irregular, and the brain is highly active. Throughout REM sleep, the brain prunes its synapses. Synapses are the connections between brain cells that help one think and remember. The brain removes the useless synapses, which contain useless, unbeneficial information. This ultimately helps improve problem solving skills, memory and improving performance in school. Additionally, REM sleep helps with emotional regulation and allows one to process emotional memories experienced during the day. This lets them make sense of feelings and reduces the intensity of negative emotions such as stress, anger or sadness. The processing of emotional memories results in calmer feelings, which can singifiganty improve the outcome of your day.
Sleep not only improves one’s mental health, but does just as much physically. A good night's sleep can help boost your immune system significantly. When we sleep, our bodies produce a protein called cytokines. Cytokines target infections and inflammation. Our bodies also produce T-cells during sleep, which are white blood cells that play a crucial role in our bodies response to infections. Ideally, 8 hours of quality sleep is required to keep one’s immune system recharged and strong. Good sleep can also improve athletic performance. When playing sports, one is constantly pushing themself to be stronger, faster and agile. This means that their tissues undergo more wear and tear. Proper sleep provides your body with enough time to repair these tissues, making one less susceptible to injuries. REM sleep also plays a big part in this, as it helps the brain to store important information learnt during the day. This includes new techniques or skills you might have learned, allowing them to become an instinctual part of your athletic performance. This ultimately expands your skills as an athlete, improving your overall performance as a player.
Ultimately, there are several benefits to getting a good night's rest. In addition, there are severe consequences of sleep deprivation that can impact one’s day to day life. Lack of sleep causes fatigue and low energy which can make it hard to do things you love and complete simple tasks. One can also feel short tempered and irritated, leading to more stress. Shortage of rest raises cortisol levels, which is the stress hormone. This also increases the risk for other problems such as anxiety and depression. It is evident that skimping on sleep has negative effects on the human body, which are detrimental to one’s health.
Hopefully by now, you are aware of what happens during the process of sleep, and why it is crucial to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. It can be hard to prioritize rest because of external factors, making life busy, such as school and extracurriculars. However, with the right balance and planning, you can create a sleep schedule that works for you, allowing you to achieve the full 8 (hours), instead of staying up late!
Works Cited
Levine, H. (2024, September 9). REM sleep: What is it, why is it important, and how can you get
more of it?. Harvard Health. https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/rem-sleep-what-is-it-why-is-it-important-and-how-can-you-get-more-of-it
Amy Rantala, M. D. (2024, June 3). Sleep and athletic performance. Mayo Clinic Health System.
Cleveland Clinic. (2024, May 29). What happens when you don’t get enough sleep?
https://health.clevelandclinic.org/happens-body-dont-get-enough-sleep