Why do we sleep?

[Mr_Jinsue]

This may be a bit of an odd question but its one that has plagued me for a while now. What is the point of sleeping? I know that when asleep our bodies heal fastest, but I doubt we need to sleep 8 hours just for that. To help muscles regroup and refresh? Again wouldn't require so long. Dreams I believe are quite important but does anyone know why? And if there is anything else someone knows please do tell, it would help my sanity a lot Cheers

[Jdeadevil]

Msnbc explains it all! Link is here Eight hours of sleep a day seems like a colossal waste of time, doesn’t it? After all, in the hectic world we live in, those precious hours could be put to use responding to all those e-mails or hitting the spa. So why do we need so much sleep? Dr. Neil B. Kavey, director of the Sleep Disorders Center at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City, offers some clues: We don't fully understand the importance of sleep. What we do know is that sleep is an anabolic, or building, process. And we think it restores the body’s energy supplies that have been depleted through the day’s activities. Sleep is also the time when the body does most of its repair work; muscle tissue is rebuilt and restored. We know, for example, that growth hormone is secreted during sleep. This hormone is important for growth in children, but is also important throughout adulthood in rebuilding tissues.

[Dreamworld]

Its is not really known. It is theorized that the brain needs to restart each day to stop it from over processing.

[Mr_Jinsue]

Oh ok, thanks for that. Cheers

[blade5x]

Also to stay sane... we need a break from reality every once in a while. I mean really, who doesn't like looking forward to just passing out and forgetting about everything after a really stressful day?

[Inferne]

Some scientists also believe there is a relationship between sleeping and memory. Like during sleep some memories are moved from short-term to long-term and stuff like that.