All minds collect filth at the same rate as the body, so good brain hygiene should be a high priority on everyone’s agenda, too. There is an old saying that a mind is a terrible thing to waste, but what is the adage for a mind that goes uncleaned? Does it start to smell, foul and nauseating, when it does not receive a deep cleansing regularly?
But seriously, could you imagine screwing your scalp off to scrub your brain with soap and water? Or running your brain through the washer on spin cycle and then letting it air dry, so it does not shrink? I myself can’t picture it without a wry smirk appearing on my face. I know I sound silly, but I could not help myself.
But the answer to this question is sleep. Your face is not the only part of your body that requires its beauty sleep; the brain needs to get plenty of good sleep too. Soap and water are essential to your skin like sleep is to your brain.
Sleep cleans and rejuvenates your brain, but it needs to occur regularly for long bouts, especially since the brain expends tons of energy that regulates your breathing, heart rate, and processes that make all letters and words comprehensible to your eyes. Without functional brains, we would be nothing more than vegetables. The brain exhausts more energy (20% of the total capacity) than any other organ in your body, so it requires twice as much maintenance.
Many research studies have reached a consensus that quality sleep is one of the best courses of actions for cleaning your brain and strengthening the health of it. But of course, no one needs a research study to tell him or her how pertinent sleep is for the brain and body especially when you know from experience the repercussions that manifests from a lack of sleep.
How does sleep clean your brain? That is the exact same thing I thought to myself. But according to more than one study, when you sleep, the glymphatic system purges the neurotoxic substances and amyloid-beta (protein that creates the characteristic plaques in Alzheimer’s) from your brain that fills up in it throughout the day. There are studies conducted with mice that suggests that sleep physically scrubs out the toxins that encompass the brain.
According to Biomedical engineer, Laura Lewis, large and slow waves of cerebrospinal fluid washes over the brain during non-REM sleep because neurons begin synchronizing, activating and deactivating, creating less blood flow to brain, and allowing the cerebrospinal fluid to fill empty spaces surrounding the brain.
But to put it in much clearer interactive terms, just think of it this way: Sleep is a nice hot bath for your brain. It washes all the gunk off that it accumulates every day so that we can create new pathways, memories, and experiences every time we wake up.
Cheers to a good night’s rest.
Dear Shamar English, thank you for this witty post on why sleep is so important in the replenishment the chemistry and physiology of the brain. Since infancy the individuals in m family declared their sleep and patterns. There are a plethora of articles and sites on sleep hygiene. What strategies have you found helpful. Gratefully, Carol