Let us talk about our favorite pastime and how it improves our brain function, sleeping. Our bodies are built to sleep for at least 8 hours every day. Resting increases our health and helps us restore our energy levels.
Several studies have been conducted over the years focussing on the role sleep plays in reducing the risk of developing cardiovascular issues, mental health issues such as depression, and other chronic illnesses like Alzheimer’s disease.
Here are some benefits of sleep and how it helps support healthy brain function:
Keep Your Emotions In Check
Sleep plays a crucial role in regulating emotions and maintaining our emotional health. If you suffer from a sleep disorder, it may affect your feelings and push you towards a negative state of mind.
Sleep deprivation changes the way we process information and how we react to it. It hampers our ability to see things in an unbiased light due to the irritability that it causes. A study conducted in 2020 showed the difference between the participants who slept peacefully after five nights of sleep and people who had disturbed sleep.
Results showed that the people with sleep deprivation had an adverse reaction to positive and neutral pictures. Sleep deprivation is directly linked to causing changes in the amygdala– the portion of the brain that processes emotions.
All it takes is one night of disturbed sleep to change the way we perceive things.
Helps You Focus Better
It is next to impossible to focus on your tasks when you have been sleep-deprived. Sleep deprivation affects your ability to pay attention to detail. It hampers our ability to sustain our attention when trying to focus on the task at hand.
This inability to concentrate can be challenging in interacting with the outside world effectively. Sleep deprivation can lead to poor performance at work and increases the risk of accidents caused due to the inability to concentrate.
Improves Memory
Ongoing research surrounding the role of sleep in memory formation indicates that getting sound sleep ensures long-term memory formation and improves memory function. Sleeping involves areas of the brain responsible for handling memory, such as the hippocampus and the cortex.
A good night’s sleep facilitates the process of converting fresh memories into long-term memories. Studies have shown a direct link between lack of sleep and poor long-term memory.
There are traditional ways to improve your sleep cycles, such as getting back in your circadian rhythm or prescription sleeping pills. Still, there are various alternative ways to get the desired results that boost sleep quality and its effects on memory. Using specific sound and electrical current delivered to the brain during sleep is a new science that is still evolving.
Enhance Creativity
Do you remember the last time you fell asleep and had an out worldly experience in your dream?
“I took a nap yesterday, and I dreamt about the behaviorism and mental mapping of racism. I woke up and wrote about it.“
Sleeping can inspire you and boost your creativity. Sleep improves your creative thinking and problem-solving skills. Sleep has also been associated with increasing insight into new ways of thinking and solving problems.
How To Get More Zzzs?
Sleeping is often taken for granted. We all do it, especially on weekends when we prioritize our late nights of partying or binge-watching over getting a good night’s sleep. We have all been there and suffered from sleep deprivation sometime in our lives.
To optimize our brain function, we must get 7-9 hours of high-quality sleep. We understand how challenging it can be for one to maintain healthy sleeping habits. However, once you have acknowledged that you wish to improve your sleep cycle, you have already won half the battle.
- Curb Electronic Media Use Before Going To Bed
The first step to success is practical planning, meaning creating a wind-down routine. You could begin by limiting your mobile devices and electronic media usage that leads to excessive blue light exposure.
- Routined Sleep Cycle
One of the easiest ways to regulate your sleep is by going to bed simultaneously and getting up at the same time every day. This helps maintain the circadian rhythm habituating the body to an automatic sleep schedule.
- Cozy Bedroom
This goes without saying that the vibes of your bedroom decide the kind of sleep you get in there. If your bed is surrounded by red led lights, chances are you would wake up agitated and remain distracted throughout the night,
Keep your room dark, away from any light seeping through, and regulate your air conditioner to maintain a cool room temperature. Your mattress and pillows should be comfortable, and your bed is inviting you to clock in on undisturbed sleep.
Conclusion
We look forward to hearing from you about your tips and tricks on banking on more sleeping hours.
