It happened again last night. I’m sleeping like a
baby when all of a sudden, my brain stirs to life and shouts, “WAKE UP AND
START WORRYING!!” It happens all the time. My internal alarm strikes 3 a.m. and
that little worrywart inside my head jumps aboard the stress treadmill and starts
ticking off the miles. Lately, he’s been training for a marathon.
After recently resigning from my job and selling
my house, I’m facing an impending move and a new direction in life. This
provides a veritable smorgasbord of concerns on which my anal retentive mind
can feast. To make matters worse, I can never seem to sleep past dawn. In fact,
I’m lucky to make it to 6 a.m.. Usually I’m tossing and turning by four, checking and
rechecking the clock, until boredom sets in, I throw back the covers, and get on
with my day. Even when I aim to sleep late, my brain usually betrays me by whispering,
“Time’s a’ wasting!”
All this insomnia got me thinking about the
need for sleep. Sometimes I imagine how much I could get done if sleep weren’t
a necessity. I could write or work out or study till dawn. Unfortunately, my early
rising usually means I’m comatose by ten. Sleep comes quickly, even if it's short lived.
So let’s take a peek at the necessity of sleep and
remind ourselves of the critical role it plays in a healthy body.
We are not alone in our need for Zs. Sleep is a
necessity akin to eating and breathing, and all mammals share the same
fundamental sleep patterns; which, in humans, are broken down into five stages, culminating in REM, or “rapid eye movement” sleep.Stage one is the light sleep we experience as we drift off. This is also the time when sudden muscle contractions, known as hypnic myoclonia, can jolt us awake, since they are usually preceded by the sensation of falling. Stage two eases us into Stages three and four, known as “deep sleep,” during which our brain downshifts, producing the slow delta waves that accompany these stages. It’s during deep sleep that it’s most difficult to be awakened. And then comes the REM sleep.
Rapid eye movement sleep is the crème de la crème
of snoozing and begins with signals sent from the base of the brain, or pons.
The signals are whisked to the thalamus and then relayed to the cerebral cortex,
that vital outer layer of the brain responsible for higher thought. As the
cerebral cortex is stimulated, the pons sends other signals to neurons in our
spinal cord, shutting them down so we don’t act out in our sleep - a dangerous but I’m guessing, potentially hilarious condition called REM Sleep Behavior Disorder. Can you imagine the carnage associated with an afflicted competitive
eater??
REM sleep is when our dreams take flight. Each of
us spends about two hours a night in the dream stage, which scientists have discovered is critical to a healthy brain. Protein production increases during
REM sleep and those deprived of it have greater difficulty learning and retaining
information. REM may also be fundamental to brain development, since infants
spend much of their downtime in this stage. (I wonder what fills their dreams… giant
nipples, perhaps?).
In fact, sleep is crucial to good overall health.
Sleep gives our cells time to repair and produce proteins, and promotes a healthy nervous system. Sleep deprivation leads to lack of
concentration, memory impairment, and, possibly, early death. Studies among
rats show that well-rested rats typically live two to three years, while their
sleep deprived buddies usually croak after only five weeks. 
Scientists are still trying to sort out why we
dream. Some believe dreams are the brain’s attempt to organize and interpret
random signals given off during REM. Freud believed dreaming provided a safety
valve for our unconscious desires and that through our dreams, we could fulfill
our innermost wishes. However, they are constructed, dreams provide a momentary
escape from reality. They can exhilarate, stimulate, or terrorize, depending on
their content. But they can also provide a window to the past.
Sometimes, I dream of my parents. And in those
dreams they are young and smiling and alive.
Perhaps Freud was right.
See you next week.
