Informative Speech

    I’m sure everyone has been here before. You stay up all night getting some work done, and when you finally finish, you only have time to get three hours of sleep. Unsurprisingly, you wake up feeling horrible. So the next night, you go to sleep earlier and get a full eight hours, more than you usually do , but you’re still exhausted the following day. So what’s the point of sleeping if you feel terrible with or without it? Truth be told, no one knows for sure, but we know what happens to the body when you get sleep and when you don’t, and we know what happens during sleep. For instance, Robson and Salcedo wrote, “one particular component of quality sleep … was directly associated with the reduction of chronic widespread pain” (10). Essentially, if you’re not feeling well proper sleep will help. 

    Scientists have split the function of sleep into two theories: the first being that sleep is an act of homeostasis. As we all learned in biology, homeostasis is the body balancing its systems to survive. So when we sleep, parts of the brain recover and balance themselves, just like how our muscles need to rest after exercise. The cerebral cortex is one of the parts of the brain that recovers during sleep since it can not rest while we are awake (Robson and Salcedo). As Watson and Brendon wrote, “sleep may play an even more general function by effectively removing potentially neurotoxic waste products that accumulate in the central nervous system during waking states” (71). Another astonishing aspect of sleep deprivation that points towards the homeostasis theory is the feeling of tiredness. The growing desire to sleep is our bodies trying to force sleep upon us so the brain can rest and repair (Robson and Salcedo). 

    The second theory on the function of sleep is the consolidation of memories. Memories naturally deteriorate over time, but they do so slower while you are asleep. Moreover, this also means that sleep deprivation is linked to memory loss. Additionally, the brain reinforces memories while sleeping so they can be recalled later (Watson and Brendon). In short, if you want to learn anything, you need to sleep properly; otherwise, you’ll forget it.    

    Scientists have also discovered that sleep has two main stages, rapid-eye-movement REM and non-rapid eye movement NREM. People usually think of NREM as sleep; brain activity is slowed, autonomic functions are controlled, and your eyes are stationary. But REM sleep is different; although you are asleep, your brain is active; your eyelids are closed, though your eyes are moving. Blood pressure, heart rate, breathing regularity, and body temperature all become irregular during REM sleep. Dreams happen during this period of sleep (Brogan). REM sleep is particularly important as not getting enough of it starts causing problems.

    All the wonderful things your brain was doing while you got a good night’s rest can’t happen if you don’t get enough sleep. No longer can your brain rest after being used for hours on end with no break. No longer can your brain solidify memories. No longer can your brain appropriately react to stimuli.​​ The most damaging part of all this is a thing called sleep debt. Instead of only experiencing sleep deprivation after not sleeping once, you can experience it after repeatedly getting little sleep (Alic). Margaret Alic wrote, “one study found that subjects who slept only 4–6 hours per night for 14 consecutive nights showed cognitive impairment equivalent to going without sleep for three consecutive days”. This is a little concerning because I can guarantee student’s like us are not getting adequate sleep. 

    If you’re ever in a situation where you’re trying to study at the expense of sleep, just stop the sleep will literally help you more on that test than studying will. In life, nothing will help you focus like sleep, nothing will help you remember like sleep, nothing will help you feel good like sleep. So, please, go to sleep at a reasonable time.