Sleep secret

Even if there is the quietest appearance, behind the sleep is still very bustling activities.

>>>The truth behind your dreams

This is an important highlight that the world's leading expert on sleep, Dr. Dang Vu Thien Thanh shared with PV. He has studied for many years in this field at the University of Liège (Belgium), Harvard Medical School (USA) and the University of Montreal (Canada). Dr. Thien Thanh's team is based on modern techniques for imaging diagnosis (functional magnetic resonance, EEG .) to have a different perspective on the mechanism and role of sleep. The group has demonstrated that our brain is still quite active when sleeping even though it is organized differently than when we are awake. From there, it can be said that it is not wasteful for people to spend an average of nearly a third of their lives to sleep.

A good sleep is important for the process of recording information into memory

Our brains still have voluntary activities (not just reactions when stimulated) but follow a rhythm that matches the cycles of sleep. That is, the key role areas will operate and rest in stages alternately, especially in deep sleep. This rhythm is recorded by electroencephalogram. One of the characteristic waves of deep sleep is called the 'rhombic wave'. When this wave appears, the brain is the most active to perform important tasks such as remembering the information obtained when awake.

Rhombic waves that play an important role in limiting the effects of the environment can 'disturb' you during sleep, such as noise. Regarding the mechanism of action, according to Dr. Thien Thanh, rhombic waves prevent sound waves from reaching the auditory-related region. The quality and quantity of rhombus waves vary from person to person, which is why this person is more likely to be awakened by the noise than the other person.

The precious 'ticks' isolated from the outside world through rhombic waves are ideal conditions for exchanging information from the ' hippocampe ' (hippocampe) to the cortex. When 'quiet' , the process of processing information to write to memory will be more efficient. Therefore, good sleep plays a very important role in our memory. In an article on the scientific news website Réflexion (University of Liège), the research group of Professor Pierre Maquet and Dr. Thien Thanh recorded two important arguments. First of all, in the days when you have to acquire new knowledge, at night, the brain tends to produce more spherical waves than usual. Next, those whose brains produce larger and longer rhombic waves are more likely to learn and memorize than others.

One interesting point is that besides the rhombic wave, our brain also produces another type of wave called 'K complex' that plays the opposite role, helping to process and transmit sound waves faster than in when sleeping Although encountering obstacles from rhombic waves but when there is considerable intensity, sound stimuli from the environment can still be recorded by the brain while sleeping through this wave. How can wave of rhombus and complex K waves 'live peacefully' together? Dr. Thien Thanh explained this ' crossover ' point:' This is the miracle of the human brain and is very suitable for the evolutionary process: keeping quiet to strengthen the memory's activity but still 'improving'. alert'. If the noise is too loud, we need to be awakened quickly to deal with possible situations. "