Sleeping and Dreaming
Functions of Sleep
Sleep supports neural growth, memory consolidation, and protection against cellular damage. Sleep researchers are finding that sleep is essential for learning and memory, and lack of sleep impacts health, safety, and longevity. Sleep deprivation inhibits the growth of new neurons, so pulling those all-nighters to write research papers is really having a detrimental effect. Sleep also helps us learn and remember things so staying up all night cramming for an exam can also be detrimental. Finally, sleep fights cell damage by triggering the production of enzymes that fight cell damage. Despite these findings, research shows that forty percent of American adults are sleep-deprived.
