Science Daily had article a few months ago on how sleep prunes the "noise" from the brain...
"Sleep researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health believe it is more evidence for their theory of "synaptic homeostasis." This is the idea that synapses grow stronger when we're awake as we learn and adapt to an ever-changing the environment, that sleep refreshes the brain by bringing synapses back to a lower level of strength. This is important because larger synapses consume a lot of energy, occupy more space and require more supplies, including the proteins examined in this study."
"Sleep — by allowing synaptic downscaling — saves energy, space and material, and clears away unnecessary "noise" from the previous day, the researchers believe. The fresh brain is then ready to learn again in the morning"
What is better now, learning in the morning or in the evening?
Nobody knows for sure is suppose, but i will think about it all day....
Does anybody has the same problem? When i read this stuff i will think about it every time i learn. I can't even drink coffee any more without thinking about the health implications i know about.
Received wisdom from my school system says that pupils are more attentive in their first three hours of the morning, then their attention drops as they run low on sugar; they are less focused in the afternoon.
Discounting the effect of metabolism (by comparing the afternoon period with the after dinner period, or even by comparing a normal day and one spent vaguely awake after an all-nighter), the Italian study's "spring-cleaning" thesis about low-level background activity rising during the day and lowering signal to noise for some mental processes rings true to me.
"Sleep researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health believe it is more evidence for their theory of "synaptic homeostasis." This is the idea that synapses grow stronger when we're awake as we learn and adapt to an ever-changing the environment, that sleep refreshes the brain by bringing synapses back to a lower level of strength. This is important because larger synapses consume a lot of energy, occupy more space and require more supplies, including the proteins examined in this study."
"Sleep — by allowing synaptic downscaling — saves energy, space and material, and clears away unnecessary "noise" from the previous day, the researchers believe. The fresh brain is then ready to learn again in the morning"
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090402143455.ht...