What happens to the body while we sleep What happens while we sleep (25 photos) The immune system is at its peak


In the long term, sleep deprivation can be devastating to a person's health, and it's important to understand and appreciate its importance.

From bruxism and sleepwalking to exploding head syndrome and sleep apnea, - Faktrum lists 25 things that happen to our body during sleep.

body temperature drops

Since most of the body's muscles become inactive during sleep, the body burns fewer calories than when awake, so the body temperature drops. Scientists have found that the lowest body temperature in a person during sleep is at 02:30.

Eyes are moving

Although closed for centuries, but the eyes move in a dream. Their movements even differ depending on the stage of sleep. At first they roll smoothly, and then, when a person falls into a deep sleep, they begin to move quickly. However, a person, as a rule, does not remember this.

Body trembles violently

Sudden twitches and jerks are most often associated with the first stages of sleep. They are usually harmless, but can be quite strong - sometimes to the point of actually waking you up.

Muscles paralyzed

There is a compelling reason why most muscles paralyze during sleep: if they were active, then a person in a dream could act, and this, of course, would be extremely dangerous.

The skin is self-healing

The top layer of the skin is made up of thickened dead cells that are shed during the day. During sleep, the skin's metabolic rate increases and many cells in the body exhibit increased production and reduced breakdown of proteins. Since proteins are essential for cell growth and repair of damaged skin from factors such as UV rays, deep sleep can truly be called "beauty sleep."

The brain forgets unnecessary information

“We receive a lot of information throughout the day, and most of it, fortunately, is forgotten,” says sleep specialist Christopher Colwell of the UCLA School of Medicine. “If you remember everything that you learned or heard all day, then the brain, in order not to overflow with information, will begin the sorting process during sleep, filtering out the excess.”

Throat narrows

Unlike most other muscles, the throat muscles are not paralyzed during sleep, as they are needed for breathing. However, they become more relaxed, causing the throat to narrow. It also likely contributes to snoring.

The body produces hormones

During non-REM sleep, the human body releases growth hormones that stimulate cell growth, reproduction, and regeneration. Sleep, even if it is daytime, promotes the release of prolactin, an important regulator of the immune system.

The immune system is at its peak

Sleep deprivation has been proven to affect the immune system. One study found that people who received a flu shot and were deprived of sleep the next night failed to produce the antibodies needed to protect against the flu. Therefore, as soon as a person has the first signs of infection, you should sleep only as much as the immune system needs to overcome the disease.

Man is losing weight

During sleep, a person loses fluid by sweating and exhaling moist air. This happens throughout the day, but drinking and eating negates any weight loss. Therefore, quality and long-term sleep is necessary with any diet in order to achieve success.

Mouth gets dry

Since saliva is mainly needed for the process of nutrition, and a person does not eat during sleep, the salivary flow is reduced at night. Consequently, a person may feel dry mouth and thirsty when they wake up in the morning.

A man can grind his teeth

An estimated 5% of people suffer from a strange condition known as bruxism. This parafunctional activity results in excessive grinding of the teeth and can eventually lead to tooth decay. Scientists aren't sure what exactly causes the condition, but they think it could be a form of stress relief.

The body lengthens

It has been found that people can be several centimeters taller in the morning than the night before. During sleep in a horizontal position, the spine is extended, since the weight of the body does not press on it from above.

Blood pressure drops

During sleep, a person experiences what is called a “night dive” of blood pressure.

A person can sleepwalk

Scientifically known as parasomnia, sleepwalking and other sleep activities include behaviors, emotions, sensations, and dreams that typically occur during transitions between certain sleep phases. Parasomnia is mostly harmless, but there have been cases of people getting injured while sleepwalking.

A person can become sexually aroused

Both men and women can become sexually aroused in their sleep. Because the brain is more active during sleep, it needs more oxygen. As a result, blood flow throughout the body increases, causing the genitals to swell.

We see dreams

The brain makes decisions

A recent study showed that the brain can process information and prepare for activities during sleep, effectively making decisions while unconscious. In fact, our brains can even make important inferences and discoveries while we sleep.

Oh that flatulence

It is unlikely that anyone will be happy to know about this, but at night the muscles of the anal sphincter relax slightly, releasing gases that have accumulated in the intestines. The good news is that while sleeping, a person's sense of smell is not as acute as when they are awake, so the release of gases at night usually goes unnoticed.

The body is completely cleansed of toxins

Getting rid of toxins allows our body and brain to regenerate. In people who sleep poorly, filtering is not as effective, so experts believe this may explain why people who have been sleep deprived for long periods of time can become a little crazy.

We wake up without realizing it

Scientific studies have shown that people wake up many times in their sleep - it sounds strange, of course, but it's true. These revivals are so brief that we don't remember them. They usually occur during the transition between different stages of sleep.

Breathing may stop during sleep

Millions of people around the world suffer from a disorder known as sleep apnea. The disorder is characterized by pauses in breathing or episodes of shallow breathing during sleep. Each pause can last from a few seconds to several minutes.

A person can hear explosions

Exploding head syndrome is a rare, non-threatening condition in which a person hears a loud sound of imaginary noises (such as a bomb going off, a gunshot, hitting a musical cymbal, etc.) or experiencing an explosion-like sensation while falling asleep or waking up. It is painless, but frightens the one who suffers from it.

A person can talk in his sleep

Sleep talking is a parasomnia that refers to talking out loud while sleeping. It can be quite loud, ranging from murmuring sounds to screams and long, often slurred speeches. This can happen several times during sleep.

Pain threshold rises

When a person's body is completely relaxed to the point of being paralyzed, the nerves cannot receive pain signals and transmit these signals to the brain. It also explains why we don't hear, smell, see, or feel while we sleep.

What happens to our body while we sleep

If you think that your brain and body spend their hours of sleep in a blissful state of inactivity and calmness, then you are wrong. A lot happens inside us while we sleep.
A third of a person's life is spent sleeping. Those who do not comply with this requirement are eventually punished with a whole bunch of diseases, from endocrine, cardiac, gastric, to oncological and mental disorders.

Here are some of the processes that take place in our body while we sleep:

digestive juices: the amount of acid in our stomach usually decreases while we sleep, but if we have an ulcer, it increases on the contrary.

Performance Hormones: two female sex hormones (follicle-stimulating and luteinizing) are released during sleep. In addition, growth hormone is released in children and adolescents when they sleep.

kidneys: The rate at which our kidneys filter waste slows down while we sleep. This decrease in kidney activity explains why the first morning urine is so concentrated.

These changes from wakefulness differ little compared to what happens in our brain, muscles and circulatory system.

Our breathing, heartbeat, muscle movements change depending on the NREM and REM stages of sleep. During certain stages of NREM sleep, many of our bodily functions operate at a slower rate compared to normal waking levels, including brain activity, heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, and body temperature. Our muscles are in a relaxed state and, for the most part, blood flow to the brain does not change.

Based on brainwaves, scientists have learned that we go through five stages of sleep. Stages one through four are NREM (non-rapid eye movement). The last stage is REM (rapid sleep). Our brains cycle through five stages of 90 to 110 minute intervals four to six times per night.

In the REM stage, each of these processes rises above normal awakening levels. In addition, blood flow to the brain can increase anywhere from 50 to 200 percent and increase sexual arousal. Our eyes move back and forth, up and down, as if we were awake and focused on a moving object. The muscles in our heart and lungs also continue to move, but the muscles of the limbs are paralyzed.

During REM, the parts of our brain responsible for learning become active. It may be no coincidence that REM is such a stage of sleep when we dream, although scientists cannot understand why we dream at all.

While there are still many sleep-related questions to be answered, scientists have learned very little about what happens to our bodies when we don't get enough sleep. We all know that our ability to think quickly and clearly, solve math problems, remember details, and perform some physical tasks is reduced when we are sleep deprived. ?

Adults generally need 7 to 8 hours of sleep per night.

My story took place in 2013. That July evening, I was just browsing the Internet and came across an interesting article. It was told that, allegedly, during sleep, the human soul leaves the body, it can travel somewhere, etc., I think many have ever heard or read something like that. And then I got the idea to find out, but really, what happens at night while I sleep?

I took out the camcorder and made sure that it had a large memory resource. strashno.com Inspired by some genuine interest, I called my friend on Skype and shared with her what I want to do. She said with a yawn that this was complete nonsense, we laughed and chatted a little more, then wished each other good night. I thought it was time for me to go to bed.

The camera was set to night vision mode on a special tripod stand, which was also available. It turned out that the whole bed was visible, and the room too. Noticing some definite resemblance to the famous film about paranormal phenomena, I just smiled skeptically. I note that at that time I lived alone in the apartment. She fell asleep quickly and calmly, as always.

In the morning I hurried to work and spent the whole day outside the house. And only late in the evening I was able to watch the recording. Here I sleep on the bed, sometimes tossing and turning. So 11 minutes of recording passed, and then the smile of strashno.com began to slowly slide off my face. The rug near the bed slowly crawled towards the wall and stopped there, immediately a black clot of darkness separated from the dark corner behind the front door, taking on different forms, slowly floated in my direction and, bending over me sleeping, hovered. So half an hour passed.

Rare cars passed outside the window, and their light penetrated the bedroom, which made it hide somewhere behind the closet, then floated towards me again, sometimes moving like a black spot along the wall, descending to the head of the bed. And when the recording seemed to be exactly 2 hours, this entity somehow reluctantly swam to the same corner. A few more minutes of recording passed, but nothing else was observed. And then I realized that I was in this room, on this bed, I was seized with horror, and I rushed to the exit in what I was, but the door slammed in front of me, the bulbs in the chandelier burst one after another, and the room plunged into darkness. I screamed heart-rendingly, and the thought was spinning in my head: I should not have seen this. The last thing I remember is how a black shadow with some kind of whistle moved towards me.

I woke up in the hospital. Parents were sitting next to me. Neighbors called the police, the apartment was opened. I was interrogated, I told as best I could. The camera was seized and carefully examined, but no video was found there. But now, being married, I never go to bed alone and in a dark room. My life has changed and my bedroom no longer seems to be such a calm and safe place. Never repeat this and better not try to find out what we do not need to know.

My story took place in 2013. That July evening, I was just browsing the Internet and came across an interesting article. It was told that, allegedly, during sleep, the human soul leaves the body, it can travel somewhere, etc., I think many have ever heard or read something like that. And then I got the idea to find out, but really, what happens at night while I sleep?

I took out the camcorder and made sure that it had a large memory resource. website Inspired by some genuine interest, I called my friend on Skype and shared with her what I want to do. She said with a yawn that this was complete nonsense, we laughed and chatted a little more, then wished each other good night. I thought it was time for me to go to bed.

The camera was set to night vision mode on a special tripod stand, which was also available. It turned out that the whole bed was visible, and the room too. Noticing some definite resemblance to the famous film about paranormal phenomena, I just smiled skeptically. I note that at that time I lived alone in the apartment. She fell asleep quickly and calmly, as always.

In the morning I hurried to work and spent the whole day outside the house. And only late in the evening I was able to watch the recording. Here I sleep on the bed, sometimes tossing and turning. So 11 minutes of recording passed, and then the site’s smile began to slowly slide off my face. The rug near the bed slowly crawled towards the wall and stopped there, immediately a black clot of darkness separated from the dark corner behind the front door, taking on different forms, slowly floated in my direction and, bending over me sleeping, hovered. So half an hour passed.

Rare cars passed outside the window, and their light penetrated the bedroom, which made it hide somewhere behind the closet, then floated towards me again, sometimes moving like a black spot along the wall, descending to the head of the bed. And when the recording seemed to be exactly 2 hours, this entity somehow reluctantly swam to the same corner. A few more minutes of recording passed, but nothing else was observed. And then I realized that I was in this room, on this bed, the site was terrified, and I rushed to the exit in what I was, but the door slammed in front of me, the bulbs in the chandelier burst one after another, and the room plunged into darkness. I screamed heart-rendingly, and the thought was spinning in my head: I should not have seen this. The last thing I remember is how a black shadow with some kind of whistle moved towards me.

I woke up in the hospital. Parents were sitting next to me. Neighbors called the police, the apartment was opened. I was interrogated, I told as best I could. The camera was seized and carefully examined, but no video was found there. But now, being married, I never go to bed alone and in a dark room. My life has changed and my bedroom no longer seems to be such a calm and safe place. Never repeat this and better not try to find out what we do not need to know.

body temperature drops
Since most of the body's muscles become inactive during sleep, the body burns fewer calories than when awake, so the body temperature drops. Scientists have found that the lowest body temperature in a person during sleep is at 02:30.

Eyes are moving
Although closed for centuries, but the eyes move in a dream. Their movements even differ depending on the stage of sleep. At first they roll smoothly, and then, when a person falls into a deep sleep, they begin to move quickly. However, a person, as a rule, does not remember this.

Body trembles violently
Sudden twitches and jerks are most often associated with the first stages of sleep. They are usually harmless, but can be quite strong - sometimes to the point of actually waking you up.

Muscles paralyzed
There is a compelling reason why most muscles paralyze during sleep: if they were active, then a person in a dream could act, and this, of course, would be extremely dangerous.

The skin is self-healing

The top layer of the skin is made up of thickened dead cells that are shed during the day. During sleep, the skin's metabolic rate increases and many cells in the body exhibit increased production and reduced breakdown of proteins. Since proteins are essential for cell growth and repair of damaged skin from factors such as UV rays, deep sleep can truly be called "beauty sleep."

The brain forgets unnecessary information
“We receive a lot of information throughout the day, and most of it, fortunately, is forgotten,” says sleep specialist Christopher Colwell of the UCLA School of Medicine. “If you remember everything that you learned or heard all day, then the brain, in order not to overflow with information, during sleep will begin the sorting process, filtering out the excess.”

Throat narrows
Unlike most other muscles, the throat muscles are not paralyzed during sleep, as they are needed for breathing. However, they become more relaxed, causing the throat to narrow. It also likely contributes to snoring.

The body produces hormones

During non-REM sleep, the human body releases growth hormones that stimulate cell growth, reproduction, and regeneration. Sleep, even if it is daytime, promotes the release of prolactin, an important regulator of the immune system.

The immune system is at its peak
Sleep deprivation has been proven to affect the immune system. One study found that people who received a flu shot and were deprived of sleep the next night failed to produce the antibodies needed to protect against the flu. Therefore, as soon as a person has the first signs of infection, you should sleep only as much as the immune system needs to overcome the disease.

Man is losing weight
During sleep, a person loses fluid by sweating and exhaling moist air. This happens throughout the day, but drinking and eating negates any weight loss. Therefore, quality and long-term sleep is necessary with any diet in order to achieve success.

Mouth gets dry
Since saliva is mainly needed for the process of nutrition, and a person does not eat during sleep, the salivary flow is reduced at night. Consequently, a person may feel dry mouth and thirsty when they wake up in the morning.

A man can grind his teeth
An estimated 5% of people suffer from a strange condition known as bruxism. This parafunctional activity results in excessive grinding of the teeth and can eventually lead to tooth decay. Scientists aren't sure what exactly causes the condition, but they think it could be a form of stress relief.

The body lengthens
It has been found that people can be several centimeters taller in the morning than the night before. During sleep in a horizontal position, the spine is extended, since the weight of the body does not press on it from above.

Blood pressure drops
During sleep, a person experiences what is called a “night dive” of blood pressure.

A person can sleepwalk
Scientifically known as parasomnia, sleepwalking and other sleep activities include behaviors, emotions, sensations, and dreams that typically occur during transitions between certain sleep phases. Parasomnia is mostly harmless, but there have been cases of people getting injured while sleepwalking.

A person can become sexually aroused

Both men and women can become sexually aroused in their sleep. Because the brain is more active during sleep, it needs more oxygen. As a result, blood flow throughout the body increases, causing the genitals to swell.

We see dreams
The content and purpose of dreams are not fully understood, but it is known that on average a person has 3-5 dreams per night. We mostly see dreams in the first phase of sleep, when our brain is more active. However, most dreams we forget immediately and quickly.

The brain makes decisions

A recent study showed that the brain can process information and prepare for activities during sleep, effectively making decisions while unconscious. In fact, our brains can even make important inferences and discoveries while we sleep.

Oh that flatulence
It is unlikely that anyone will be happy to know about this, but at night the muscles of the anal sphincter relax slightly, releasing gases that have accumulated in the intestines. The good news is that while sleeping, a person's sense of smell is not as acute as when they are awake, so the release of gases at night usually goes unnoticed.

The body is completely cleansed of toxins

Getting rid of toxins allows our body and brain to regenerate. In people who sleep poorly, filtering is not as effective, so experts believe this may explain why people who have been sleep deprived for long periods of time can become a little crazy.

We wake up without realizing it
Scientific studies have shown that people wake up many times in their sleep - it sounds strange, of course, but it's true. These revivals are so brief that we don't remember them. They usually occur during the transition between different stages of sleep.

Breathing may stop during sleep
Millions of people around the world suffer from a disorder known as sleep apnea. The disorder is characterized by pauses in breathing or episodes of shallow breathing during sleep. Each pause can last from a few seconds to several minutes.

A person can hear explosions
Exploding Head Syndrome is a rare, non-threatening condition in which a person hears a loud sound of imaginary noises (such as a bomb exploding, a gunshot, hitting a musical cymbal, etc.) or experiences an explosion-like sensation while falling asleep or waking up. It is painless, but frightens the one who suffers from it.

A person can talk in his sleep

Sleep talking is a parasomnia that refers to talking out loud while sleeping. It can be quite loud, ranging from murmuring sounds to screams and long, often slurred speeches. This can happen several times during sleep.

Pain threshold rises

When a person's body is completely relaxed to the point of being paralyzed, the nerves cannot receive pain signals and transmit these signals to the brain. It also explains why we don't hear, smell, see, or feel while we sleep.