Transcriber: Salvador Pineda Guevara Reviewer: David DeRuwe
We spend about a third of our lives taking care of ourselves
in one of the most effective ways possible,
but all while unconscious.
Let’s go back to about a century ago to Nathaniel Kleitman,
who was a Russian sleep researcher and physiologist
who was truly dedicated to his work.
He went from
keeping a detailed record of his two daughters’ sleeping schedules
from birth to adulthood,
to forcing himself to stay awake for 180 hours
just to see the effects of sleep deprivation.
However, his most notable finding was REM,
R.E.M.,
and by observing sleeping patterns and eye movements,
he was able to map out the different stages of sleep.
And today with more modern research,
we know that sleep in its two forms REM and non-REM
are both essential to our physical and mental well-being.
Hi, my name’s Skylar Lee and I believe in the importance of sleep.
REM, R.E.M.
It stands for rapid eye movement, which is what our eyes do when we sleep.
They move in angular motions that can go up to 900 degrees per minute.
REM is also considered both a dream state and behavioral state,
and you undergo it ideally three to five times a night
for a couple of hours total.
Now, REM is when you dream the most because it acts as a data dump
when your brain naturally sorts out the information you need and don’t need.
And this can be good
because it helps with your problem solving and preparing for challenges.
However, REM’s most imperative quality is its relation to memory,
and this can have very drastic effects.
Consolidation is the process of a memory becoming more stable,
and during your REM sleep is when the neural activity in your brain occurs,
and it is required for your memory consolidation.
And so your memory recall and recollection can improve by up to 40%,
and research in the last 20 years has shown that more sleep, in general,
has led to not only giving you enough energy to go throughout your day,
but it’s also important because of the effects and benefits
it has on your memory and your learning, recall, retention,
and using all of that to come up with innovative solutions.
Then there’s the other part of your sleep cycle:
non-REM.
This refers to the first three stages of your sleeping process.
Non-REM is also an important part of memory consolidation
as slow waves in your brain,
transfer memories from your hippocampus
to the other storage regions in your brain,
But more importantly, the most imperative part of non-REM sleep
is its relation to stress.
Norepinephrine is a hormone that is related to fear and sensitivity,
and that norepinephrine is produced during your non-REM sleep stage.
So essentially, this indicates that the more non-REM sleep you get,
the better reactions you have to stress.
And so this has also been proven by the studies that have shown
that the more non-REM sleep you get,
the better reactions you have to external stimuli
and the less irritable you are.
So you’ve probably heard it a billion times.
Stress and memory are so important for you,
as well as sleep, and sleep has its benefits,
such as growth and energy and maybe even weight loss,
but those are more apparent effects.
So consider the less apparent effects such as your memory and stress
and how they might be at stake.
And maybe just a few more hours of sleep at night
can change your perception of the world.
Thank you.
(Applause)