#192, Sleep
We go to bed each night. We die. And each morning we are reborn again.
Our brains can only hold in so much each day. Every single experience takes a little bit of space. Whether it is chatting with mom, solving a geometric proof, brushing your teeth, or reading these very words, your brain is forming new connections. New pathways continuously form that weren’t there before. These synaptic connections vary in strength. After practicing violin for two hours, the synaptic connection is stronger than the 40 second Google Chat with a friend. At the end of the day, the brain is a giant unruly mess of new connections.
That’s where sleep kicks in.
Scientists hypothesize that when you are sleeping, waves of electrical activity wash over your synaptic connections gradually weakening them. These slow oscillations may occur a thousand times in a night. Much like the process of erosion, over time, all that is left standing are the strongest synaptic connections—the things you need and want to remember.
At least that’s what some scientists believe to be true. To be honest, we still don’t know why human beings sleep. There just isn’t conclusive evidence about this oddly mysterious process. It takes up roughly one third of a human life and inevitably leads to some rather unpredictable outcomes.
To complete this Journal response, address the following:
Tell a personal story about one of your sleep experiences. Weird is welcome!
Comment on a peer's response.
-Brenden Lee Teacher