Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Sleep Is the Ultimate Brainwasher

Posted by Unknown on from the brush-those-axons dept.

sciencehabit writes "Every night since humans first evolved, we have made what might be considered a baffling, dangerous mistake. Despite the once-prevalent threat of being eaten by predators, and the loss of valuable time for gathering food, accumulating wealth, or having sex, we go to sleep. Scientists have long speculated and argued about why we devote roughly a third of our lives to sleep, but with little concrete data to support any particular theory. Now, new evidence (abstract, full text paywalled) has refreshed a long-held hypothesis: During sleep, the brain cleans itself." During sleep, the Cerebrospinal fluid fills channels in the brain, collecting waste products. It uses a lot of energy, leading to the hypothesis that the brain can't clean up waste while also processing sensory input.

10 of 210 comments (clear)

  1. Like so many computer programs... by christianT · · Score: 5, Funny

    Humans suffer from major memory leaks and must be shut down periodically due to poor garbage collection.

  2. Re:Extremely variable sleeping periods by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Cats must have very clean brains!?

  3. Re:Obvious question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Apparently, brain poop which may lead to many brain farts.

  4. Re:Extremely variable sleeping periods by turkeydance · · Score: 5, Funny

    yep...brain waste excreted with hair balls.

  5. Re:Neat. by SJHillman · · Score: 4, Funny

    For teenagers, it's more like a cron job running rm -rf /knowledge/school/exam_answers/*

  6. Re:Extremely variable sleeping periods by stms · · Score: 2, Funny

    That's easy you have a dirty mind.

  7. Re:Couldn't you come up... by jamesh · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...with a better word than "brainwashing?" Since that already means something that does not match the contents of the article.

    Agree. A "dirty mind" joke would have gone down far better.

  8. Re:Neat. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    For teenagers, it's more like a cron job running rm -rf /knowledge/school/exam_answers/*

    Okay, how to I root my brain to edit my crontab???? Then I can finally not me fail english, which I that unpossible.

  9. Re:Extremely variable sleeping periods by war4peace · · Score: 5, Funny

    "This was also a favorite time for scholars and poets to write uninterrupted, whereas still others visited neighbors, had sex, or engaged in petty crime." ...Or all the above, at the same time :)
    Like visiting a neighbor to have sex with his wife and steal some silver in the process... and then write about it.

    --
    ...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
  10. Re:Extremely variable sleeping periods by ozmanjusri · · Score: 4, Funny

    Hi, ho Silver...

    --
    "I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."