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Why do we sleep?

Do you think you got enough sleep this past week? Can you recall the last time you woke up without
an alarm clock feeling all refreshed, not needing a cup of coffee? If the answer to either of these
questions is “no” you are not alone. Two-thirds of adult population throughout all developed nations

fail to obtain the recommended eight hours of nightly sleep.

Society’s apathy toward sleep has, in part, been caused by the historic failure of science to explain,
why we need it! Sleep remains to be the greatest biological mysteries. All of the mighty problem-
solving methods in science, genetics, molecular biology, and high-powered digital technology have

been unable to unlock the stubborn vault of sleep.

Minds of the most stringent kind, including Nobel prize winner Francis Crick, who deduced the

twisted-ladder structure of DNA, and even Sigmund Freud had all tried their hand at deciphering
sleep’s enigmatic code, all in vain.

Addressing the question of why we sleep from an evolutionary perspective only compounds the
mystery further. No matter what vantage point you take, sleep would appear to be the most foolish

of biological phenomena. When you are asleep, you cannot gather food. You cannot socialize. You
cannot find a mate and reproduce. You cannot nurture and protect your offspring. Worse still, sleep
leaves you vulnerable to predation. Yet we spend a third of our life doing it! Sleep is surely one of the

most puzzling of all human behaviors.

Through an explosion of discoveries made over the past decades, we have come to realize that
evolution did not make a spectacular blunder in conceiving of sleep. Within the brain, sleep enriches
a diversity of functions, including our ability to learn, memorize and and make logical decisions and

choices. Benevolently servicing our psychological health, sleep re-calibrates our emotional brain
circuits, allowing us to navigate next day social and psychological challenges with cool head
composure.

Plentiful sleep maintains a flourishing micro-biome within your gut from which we know so much of
our nutritional health begins. A balanced diet and exercise are of vital importance. However, we now
see sleep as the pre-eminent force in this health trinity. The physical and mental impairments caused
by one night of bad sleep lessen those caused by an equivalent absence of food or exercise. It is

difficult to imagine any other state- natural or medically manipulated, that affords a more powerful
redressing of physical and mental health at every level of analysis.

From a prescription written long ago in our ancestral genetic code, the practice of natural biphasic
sleep, good exercise and a healthy diet, are the keys to a long sustained life. So here’s wishing you a
good night’s sleep, tonight. Sweet dreams!

Ms. Lenina Anisha Pereira

(F.Y.BSc 2021-22)
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