Decades-old studies have revealed the importance of sleep in brain development and sleep-time maintenance to us. Now the scientists from the US have come up with different functions of sleep by creating a mathematic model. This study talks about how people undergo different shifts in terms of their sleep behavior in their lifetime. Experts have said that a major part of the sleep process among infants is entering the state of consciousness, which is cued by shifting our eyes while we dream. This phase of sleep is called Rapid Eye Movement (REM). Interestingly, infants spend half of their sleep time in this state only, said the experts.
The study says that adults slip in the REM phase while sleeping, one and a half-hour after dozing off. The REM phase of the sleeping process is linked with the consolidation of experiences people have while being awake. People tend to lock these experiences in their memory banks. REM phase of infants reduces to a quarter of their sleep time as they turn 10 years old, said the experts. People who are above 50 years of age spend 15 percent of their sleep time in memory formed dream phase. Experts have informed that babies need REM sleep to beef up their developing brains. Experts have said that the rest of the sleep time of the babies goes into sweeping of general accumulation and revamping the body.
When infants do not get enough sleep in the REM phase, the body tends to accumulate waste. It increases the risk of neurological disorders like dementia in the future. Researchers have included data from many previous studies to establish a link between the duration of the REM phase and physical and mental development. They have been able to find a link between body mass and a scaled amount of sleep time. Experts have said that the brain develops quicker than the rest of the body among short height humans, which requires a lot of focus in building the connections. Scientists have said that the requirement of sleep is proportional to the growth of the brain.
