Why do humans need to sleep?

(Conor, age 17)

Answer by: Dr David Sugden - Kings College London After many decades of research, there is still much debate about the function of sleep. Everyone would acknowledge that a good nights sleep makes you feel more alert, energetic and better able to function. Lack of sleep has clear consequences; it not only makes you grumpy in the morning, but also impairs concentration and performance, can disturb vision and result in slow reaction time. Chronic sleep disturbance can reduce immune function and increase the risk of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. It seems likely that no single theory will explain why we sleep, though several have been proposed. One of the earliest ideas the adaptive or evolutionary theory suggested that sleep evolved as a survival strategy to keep an animal away from harm at vulnerable times, for example in darkness or when predators were active. However, it seems logical to suppose that remaining conscious if inactive might prove a safer policy. A related idea proposes that sleep is a mechanism to allow an individual to reduce energy expenditure, perhaps at times when the search for food is least likely to be successful. Other theories have been proposed that suggest that sleep allows the body and brain to repair and replenish themselves. Activities associated with restoration such as growth hormone secretion, and protein synthesis occur during sleep, and babies (if youre lucky!) sleep lots. Sleep plays a critical role in brain plasticity not only in infants but also in adults as well, and research indicates that sleep quantity and quality can have an important influence on learning and memory. To learn more about this topic I recommend this excellent website: http://healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/.