Have you yet wondered what happens to your body when you sleep? Is your brain still awake even though your mind isn’t? Does the body still carry out all secondary body activities?
What does the body do when you’re asleep?
Sleep is still one of the mysteries of the human body. There are no clear answers about some sleep phenomena like dreaming. But if there’s one thing we know, it is what happens to the body during sleep. Apart from resting, the body carries out several vital activities while you’re asleep.
- Your Sympathetic Nervous System(SMS) Relaxes
When you go to sleep, your sympathetic nervous system also takes a breather. The sympathetic nervous system is the piece of the brain that controls how active you are. So, actions like fight or flight are controlled by the SNS. When the SNS takes a pause, it activates the parasympathetic nervous system, the piece of the nervous system that relaxes the body.
In response to this power shift, bodily functions such as breathing rates, heartbeats, and blood pressure reduction. This state also encourages digestion and repair.
2. The Immune System Becomes Active
There’s a reason why you sleep so much when you’re ill. It’s a common thought that sleeping helps sick people heal faster because the body can focus its energy on the places that need healing. But it’s more than that; when you sleep, the immune system secretes a type of protein known as cytokines.
These cytokines fight inflammation, infections, and illnesses. Studies have shown that people who get proper sleep at night are less susceptible to infections and will heal fast when they do. If you’re not getting enough sleep at night, this is your cue to try a free white noise app for iPhone and do so.
3. Your Muscles Become Paralysed
Most people fall asleep and wake up in the same place, and that’s because when you sleep, your muscles become paralysed.
Two things occur during REM sleep. One, you dream. Two, the brain reduces function in its frontal cortex, which controls body movement. This happens to prevent the body from physically acting out dreams.
People who don’t experience this often physically act out their dreams and may need to be restrained.
4. You Shed Your Skin
Healthy skin goes beyond good hygiene and what you eat. How much sleep you get at night plays a role too. Studies show that some skin cells have their circadian rhythm, which coincides with our 24-hour clock. A healthy sleep schedule helps keep the skin fresh and renewed daily.
In addition, lack of sleep increases the chances of skin conditions like acne and psoriasis. It also causes reduced blood flow to the face.
A lot goes on when you’re sleeping. Most of these activities aren’t just regular bodily functions; they are essential to body functions for a healthy individual. This is why it’s important to not only get enough sleep but to sleep on time. If you’re struggling with insomnia, try the can’t sleep audio app and white noise app.
5. The Brain Stores Memories
One of the more fascinating things to occur during sleep is the brain backing up your memories for the day. It’s a process that involves sorting and storage. On the one hand, the brain flips through your memories, sorting them into meaningful and unimportant. The unimportant memories are cleared away to give the mind more clarity, while the essential memories are stored.
This process is crucial for building long-term memories. When you’re sleep deprived, the brain doesn’t relax enough to sort through your memories, and you could experience memory loss.
6. Hormones Become Active
When you sleep, many hormones become active. Some are released, while the concentration of others is reduced. Each hormone has a unique function and is secreted at a different time during the night. One of the hormones secreted during sleep is melatonin. This hormone, also known as the sleep hormone, controls your sleep.
Another hormone is ghrelin, the hunger hormone. When your body is asleep, this hormone is reduced. When you don’t get enough sleep, the opposite happens – ghrelin is produced in higher quantities while the satiety hormone leptin reduces.
Cortisol is another hormone that is reduced during sleep. The stress hormone reduces when you go to sleep and increases little by little before you wake up to induce alertness.
Lastly, the body releases the antidiuretic hormone (ADH) to prevent you from feeling like peeing while you’re asleep. This hormone reduces towards morning.
