Brain structure generates pockets of sleep within the brain

http://news.mit.edu/2015/brain-controls-sleep-1013

by phodo • 11 years ago

63 11 11 years ago

news.mit.edu

bcjordan• 11 years ago

Neat, brain waves seem like the brain's global dispatch system.

TeMPOraL2• 11 years ago

Is there any suggestion that regions of brain communicate wirelessly (or "chemicallessly")?

I always thought brain waves are only artifacts of the flow of electrons within the brain - a moving charge creates an EM field. In the same way one could talk about "CPU waves" - EM emissions generated by electricity flowing through the processor.

EazyC• 11 years ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_field_potential

One of the most important ways the brain communicates is actually not just ionically through chemo-ionic channels but through summed wave activity. This is especially important in sleep and also during long term potentiation of circuits.

webnrrd2k• 11 years ago

Off the top of my head, the closest thing I could think of that would be "wireless" is the endocrine system, specifically the pineal gland. It secretes melatonin that affects other systems, but is not directly wired to them.

jacquesm• 11 years ago

Very interesting, the silicon equivalent is a power saving measure, the brain seems to have other uses for local reduction of activity.

JabavuAdams2• 11 years ago

The more I learn about the brain, the more unlikely it seems that proponents of extreme polyphasic sleep are correct.

coldtea• 11 years ago

Or that the proponents of confirmation bias are incorrect...

seiji• 11 years ago

Brains are good at habits and patterns. If you start to nap every day at 2pm, you will begin to crave that nap every day until you de-condition yourself from it. Not necessarily damaging or wrong or broken, just different patterns.

JabavuAdams2• 11 years ago

Specifically, the claim that you can get all the sleep you need if you just get your 15 min of REM each session. There's so much more going on than just REM. Really, there's no good evidence for the claim that only REM is required. Meanwhile sleep problems can have a huge impact on health.

Brain structure generates pockets of sleep within the brain

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