More often than not, the general population does not view sleep as a priority, but rather as something to sacrifice in the name of productivity or entertainment should the need arise. However, similarly to those of nutrition and daily physical activity, sleep plays an essential role in day to day health and largely dictates the development of the brain from birth and onward. In order to properly nourish the growing brain and individual, one must realize the importance of sleep and its impact on performance and daily function; to understand how sleep encourages optimal brain function is to understand another factor in the marathon that is a healthy lifestyle.
Based on studies involving infant animals, sleep has been shown to dramatically enhance connections in the brain during early development; infants and babies become exposed to information at a faster rate than at any other point in their lives (Mastin, 2013). REM sleep therefore becomes the most important aspect of brain development in young infants, as newborns sleep up to 18 hours per day and therefore spend up to 80% of their time in REM sleep (Mastin, 2013). Notably, the circadian rhythm, …show more content…
Myelin content, which increases during the course of childhood and adolescence, is indicative of brain maturity and accounts for the heightened need to sleep in children (University of Zurich, 2016). As part of the visual system, the myelin content is responsible for interpreting input from the senses and for spatial perception skills (but myelin is not directly responsible in the process of sleep itself)-- a lack of myelin content indicates the brain is not yet mature and therefore needs sleep to create more (University of Zurich, 2016). Again, similar to brain development in infancy, sleep quality is responsible for optimally establishing connections in the brain. A need to sleep sufficiently is imperative in childhood and should be emphasized by
Based on studies involving infant animals, sleep has been shown to dramatically enhance connections in the brain during early development; infants and babies become exposed to information at a faster rate than at any other point in their lives (Mastin, 2013). REM sleep therefore becomes the most important aspect of brain development in young infants, as newborns sleep up to 18 hours per day and therefore spend up to 80% of their time in REM sleep (Mastin, 2013). Notably, the circadian rhythm, …show more content…
Myelin content, which increases during the course of childhood and adolescence, is indicative of brain maturity and accounts for the heightened need to sleep in children (University of Zurich, 2016). As part of the visual system, the myelin content is responsible for interpreting input from the senses and for spatial perception skills (but myelin is not directly responsible in the process of sleep itself)-- a lack of myelin content indicates the brain is not yet mature and therefore needs sleep to create more (University of Zurich, 2016). Again, similar to brain development in infancy, sleep quality is responsible for optimally establishing connections in the brain. A need to sleep sufficiently is imperative in childhood and should be emphasized by