Ask Dr. Universe: Why is sleep so short?


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Washington State University

Dr Universe: Why is sleep so short? – Brooklyn, 12

Dear Brooklyn,

This is an excellent observation. When my friend Ashley Ingiosi was a child, she remembers how napping in the car on the 4 hour drive to her grandparents’ house seemed to pass the time. Perhaps you have had a similar experience.

As a researcher at Washington State University, Ingiosi is really curious about what goes on in the human brain during sleep. She was happy to answer your question.

“Sometimes sleep is so short because we become less aware of our surroundings,” she said.

During your day, you rely on certain signals from your senses – or stimuli – to tell if you are awake and conscious. This awareness is what sleep scientists call awareness.

But when you sleep you don’t really feel the world the same way. You can’t use your sense of touch to smell your sheets. Often, you cannot use your hearing to pick up the sounds around you. You may not feel it, but during certain phases of sleep your eyes wander under your eyelids.

Even though you have a lower level of consciousness, your brain and body are still very active.

“The brain is always very busy during sleep and does a lot of different things,” Ingiosi said. “But the reason we can stay asleep is because we are less aware of what is going on around us.”

When you’re awake and aware, you can use cues from your surroundings to sense all kinds of things, including how time flies. But when you’re asleep, it’s harder to keep track of all those seconds, minutes, and hours that go by.

“If we were aware of things as we are when we are awake, we would have a really hard time staying asleep,” Ingiosi said.

The time humans spend sleeping is also important, she adds. As children and teens get older, they need to sleep even longer than adults need to sleep.

According to our friends at the National Institutes of Health, school-aged children and teens need about 9 hours of sleep per day. After the teenage years, you can do with a little less sleep. Most adults need about 7-8 hours of sleep per day.

While scientists are still unraveling many mysteries around how and why humans sleep, we know that sleep gives the body and mind a chance to rejuvenate. It helps you stay healthy.

Sleep can also help strengthen the memories you form throughout the day. It helps your brain run smoothly, so you can do everything from finishing homework to playing sports to big questions about our world.

Who knows, maybe one day you will be a scientist who will help us better understand the fascinating experience of sleep. As for me, after investigating this great scientific question, I think it’s time for a cat nap.

Truly,

Dr Universe

Do you want to help support science education and get a great STEM inspired mask? Find out how to askdruniverse.wsu.edu/masks.

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