Sleep :: Biology Essays Research Papers

SleepSleep is my favorite thing in life. My commencement waking thought is usually when volition I be qualified to balance again? But why do I have it away to sleep? What goes on behind my closed eyelids and what does sleep do for me? As early as 350 BC, Aristotle pondered the state of sleep With regard to sleep and waking, we moldiness consider what they argon whether they are peculiar to soul or to frame, or common to both. Researchers are still engaged in investigating the complexities of sleep. To answers these questions, I turned to the Internet for help. After an exhausting search, weeding through web pages designed for the average insomniac looking for a quick fix to his/her troubles, and technical research papers discussing the specifics of neuro biologic functions, I found some reformatory writings. What is known is that sleep is founded on patterns of bodily functions and heading activity. While we are asleep, our brains exhibit distinct and separate stages of acti vity. This paper will discuss the underlying patterns and stages of sleep inside humans and the functions of each stage. This introduction to sleep will serve as the basis for further research later in the semester. Sleep follows distinct patterns throughout the day. Circadian rhythms are daily cycles of biologic activity which mediate many of our metabolic functions. Blood pressure, heart rate, clay temperature and hormonal secretions ebb and flow throughout the day in a cyclic pattern, often referred to as the biological clock. These rhythms are controlled by the superchaismatic nucleus region of the hypothalamus, which relies on both internal timing mechanisms within specific neurons as well as outside influences to set this clock. The biological clock is kept running by zeitbergers, that is, any input to the brain such as daylight, the smell of food, or temperature change. Sleep cycles follow our circadian rhythms. It has been found that the natural hormone melatonin plays a large part in mediating sleep. As darkness falls, enzymes in the brain stimulate the release of melatonin from the pineal gland in the brain. Melatonin induces sleep by influencing the superchiasmatic nucleus. The release of melatonin is halted when daylight arrives, and we scram wakefulness. Other mediators such as seratonin, prolactin and prostaglandin have also been coupled to the sleep cycle, but their exact role is unclear. Upon falling asleep, the brain and body go through five stages of sleep in one sleep cycle.