The Mystery Of Sleep Research

Sleeping is a part of daily life for every single human, yet there is no proven scientific explanation for why that is true. One spends about a third of their life time sleeping, yet some other organisms never sleep at all (Lawton 1). For this reason, it is not certain why sleep is so essential, specifically for humans. There is not one definite answer to this mystery, but there are many theories that propose possible explanations. Some of the various theories include the inactivity theory and the restorative theory, which explain that humans once slept for protection from predators and have now evolved to sleeping in order to perform reparative functions. Although there are numerous theories suggesting why humans sleep, the mystery of sleep is best explained using a combination of elements from both the restorative theory and the inactivity theory. …show more content…
This theory, which is “one of the earliest theories of sleep, ... suggests that inactivity at night is an adaptation that served a survival function by keeping organisms out of harm’s way at times when they would be particularly vulnerable” (Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School 7). Since the early years of life, it has been said that humans would sleep as a defense mechanism at times they were susceptible to predators. By staying still and quiet while vulnerable, one would remain safe, unlike others who remained active. Those who were active in the dark often had some form of an accident during the night or were killed by predators. Over time, this behavioral strategy evolved to modern day