What’s the scientific reason behind wanting to sleep?

As long as I stay hydrated and eating to get enough energy I don’t see why I shouldn’t be able to go on forever or for a very long time (like a phone a charging while being used)

Ask Jeeves it

science of course is being unnecessarily cryptic

but considering you start to hallucinate when you don't sleep, it's required for brain maintenance

the brain does rhythmic hops when you sleep. seems to be like maintenance work of some sort

I also had an idea that it has to do with toxic metabolites. as you think your brain generates toxic waste, and it's possible when you're awake it can't clean up all of it and needs a shutdown process. I can't remember now why I came to that conclusion. I was doing some neurotransmitter and neuron metabolism research at the time but I can't remember the specifics now, sigh...

schizophrenia (which is what happens when you're sleep deprived) to me seems like your brain having TOO many connections though, not that you lack connections. so maybe sleep prunes neuronal connections, and not necessarily reinforces existing ones. probably it does both

question is, which does it decide to keep or abandon? 🤔🤷

... there is some interesting tidbits

they say if you don't sleep then sleep you can't "get back" your sleep and remain with the brain damage. your body produces melatonin naturally to make you sleepy, and it's a very powerful anti oxidant that also cures cancer and panacea of medicine in the esoteric circles. well if you feed melatonin to very sleep deprived rats, it reversed all the sleep deprivation neuronal changes

there are also those tarahumara people, who are known to run for 7-14 days without sleeping. considering this tribe did this regularly, as part of their regular culture, I would assume they don't suffer from sleep deprived brain issues. when you engage in endurance-related physical exercise your muscles create something called coq10, which is a very powerful antioxidant with various mysterious medicinal properties

so I would assume then my toxic metabolites theory would be true. since you can fix sleep deprivation brain damage with powerful antioxidants

morning wood

@Demolishun one big challenge ready to be challenged / beaten. Quite hard to do often. Hard work.

@chatgpt why do we need sleep?

@netikras
Sleep is a crucial aspect of our overall health and well-being. It plays a vital role in various physiological and cognitive functions, including:

1. **Restoration and Repair:** During sleep, the body undergoes several important processes, such as tissue repair, muscle growth, and the release of growth hormones. These processes help the body recover from the day's activities and maintain overall health.

2. **Memory Consolidation:** Sleep plays a significant role in memory consolidation. During the different stages of sleep, the brain processes and stores information gathered during the day. This aids in learning, problem-solving, and overall cognitive function.

3. **Emotional Regulation:** Adequate sleep is essential for emotional health and regulation. Lack of sleep can lead to irritability, mood swings, and difficulty managing stress and emotions.

4. **Immune Function:** Sleep is crucial for a healthy immune system. During sleep, the body produces and releases cytokines

, which are proteins that help regulate the immune response. Insufficient sleep can weaken the immune system and make individuals more susceptible to illnesses.

5. **Brain Function:** Sleep is essential for optimal brain function. It helps to regulate neurotransmitters, promote neural growth, and maintain cognitive function, including concentration, decision-making, and problem-solving.

Overall, getting enough quality sleep is crucial for maintaining physical health, cognitive function, and emotional well-being. It is an essential foundation for overall health and should be prioritized in daily routines.

because your synapses will melt.

the brain is not made for being set to "on" continuously. it needs time to recover after working, just like muscles. it needs downtime to sort and process the information gathered, and to clean up.

the scientific reason behind "wanting to sleep" is that we need sleep to keep our brain working.

fyi lethal insomnia exists

@tosensei 's response is the case for biological beings.
But you can see the same thing on machines. If a car moves continuously stopping only to refuel, it won't last long.
Even formula one cars, that are always the best built machines with the best parts, best fuel, best calibration and always on the best road conditions, require maintenance on the middle of a race.
The engines would just melt down, otherwise.

@JsonBoa F1 cars are an exteme case, by the way. the engines are designed to be rebuilt after basically every race. if they didn't have any "reconstructive downtime", they'd very likely break down the second or third race.

Your body doesn't need sleep. Your muscles can probably keep doing their thing 24/7.

It's your mind that needs sleep.

Despite all the science links people are posting and the AI-bot's explanation, if you start looking through the literature, no one really knows why we need sleep. Everyone is really just guessing.

@djsumdog maybe we could see the brain as a kinda muscle that only relaxes when sleeping? Something that can get too warm and needs to cool down? Maybe it just doesn't like the energy on it for too long? I'm just thinking.. I had a mania and after psychosis and experienced myself consequences of longer than anyone would ever believe without sleep and have suffered the consequences. There's is some kernreactor in your head happening going faster and faster until you think you're gonna explode and will be convinced you'll die. Before that, insane euphoria, literally

@djsumdog "Your muscles can probably keep doing their thing 24/7"

well, that's only true insofar that muscles don't need sleep to recover. they just need "not being used". which is what sleep is to the brain.

if you use your muscles in any significant amount 24/7, they will break down, too (heart&stuff are obviously a different issue)