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The Purpose of Sleep? To Forget, Scientists Say (nytimes.com)

Posted by msmash on from the puzzling-questions dept.

Over the years, scientists have come up with a lot of ideas about why we sleep. From a report on NYTimes: Some have argued that it's a way to save energy. Others have suggested that slumber provides an opportunity to clear away the brain's cellular waste. A pair of papers published on Thursday in the journal Science offer evidence for another notion: We sleep to forget some of the things we learn each day (Editor's note: the link could be paywalled; alternate source). In order to learn, we have to grow connections, or synapses, between the neurons in our brains. These connections enable neurons to send signals to one another quickly and efficiently. We store new memories in these networks.

4 of 145 comments (clear)

  1. Purpose of sleep is to forget? by olsmeister · · Score: 5, Funny

    I thought that was the purpose of whiskey.

  2. Re:what scientists? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    I suspect I am feeding a troll, but just in case you are just completely incompetent.

    The article from The Guardian has the links right in the article.
    Giulio Tononi
    Chiara Cirelli

    First link in Google
    Ohio Sleep Medicine Institute

  3. And this explains... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Not getting any sleep is fatal. The theory that sleep's main function is "to forget" doesn't explain that. Of course, the post didn't claim that was its sole function, but I'd say it implied it. Scientific American had an article on sleep last year which favored the garbage removal theory. It's not very smart to think that sleep has a single purpose, imho. The fact that all mammals sleep, (some only half a brain at a time) and as far as I know all birds, reptiles, amphibians, and some (not all) fish sleep. Plus some insects enter a state similar to sleep, as do roundworms. Such a broad adoption clearly indicates it has a very strong evolutionary driving/survival force behind it.

  4. God's a script kiddie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Proof that God is a hack and couldn't write a kernel that manages much more than a 48h uptime before it needs a reboot. I bet all the kids in other galaxies with cooler Gods are laughing at us.