The Biopsychology of Sleeping and Dreaming

Why do we sleep? Most people would say that it's because our bodies need to rest. And that's part of it, but is that the whole truth? What about dreaming? What is that, why do we do it, and what do they mean? Let's get a closer look at these processes now!

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[peterazlac]

As a physiologist I have been interested in sleep in relation to metabolic disorders, like Alzheimer's, that all basically involved mitochondrial dysfunction. I recently bought a sleep monitoring device and tested the claims for sleep induction and found that non of them were of key importance. What was turned out to be the cortisol cycle and its peaks and spikes such that deep sleep did not occur until about one hour after peak and stopped as cortisol level increased again in the early hours when REM sleep dominates. Cortisol is produced within mitochondria in the adrenal glands but then distributed to cells throughout the body where it stimulates the sympathetic nerve response but also regulates the circadian clocks of all organs but the brain - melatonin is also produced within all cells. The daily rhythms of cortisol and melatonin oppose each other with cortisol responsible for wakefulness and melatonin for sleep. As we age - I am 85 - we suffer more mitochondrial dysfunction unless we take appropriate steps to counter this, especially on the modern toxic diet of manufactured foods loaded with inflammatory Omega 6 from see oils. As a result, we find it more difficult to fall asleep and stay asleep and recent research shows that as a result of mitochondrial dysfunction the cortisol peak is brought forward at night and the melatonin peak being delayed with the result that we go to bed later and miss out on deep sleep. Incidentally Dementia and Alzheimers are due to energy shortfalls linked to mitochondrial dysfunction and not amyloid plaque and tau proteins but that is another story.

[OrangeMilks]

I have narcolepsy (and cataplexy) and had to sleep at the hospital with all those electrodes on my head (and some on my legs cus I also have restless leg syndrome lol). I got to see the Wave chart the next morning. I remember they said I my brain basically fell asleep(REM) before I closed my eyes, which was kinda freaky. But I did hallucinate a lot back then, so it makes sense. I “slept” 8 hours, but overall barely stayed 45 mins in stage three. I spent most time in REM sleep and woke up every other hour.

AND THEN you have to get up and live your life but you’re still so tired and exhausted that you fall asleep as soon as you sit down or do something monotonous during the day. Because you NEVER get a good nights sleep. It’s been like that for 9 years now, I barely remember how it felt to wake up well rested, feeling alert or spirited. Drugs help a lot..! But they also make you feel... drugged. Sorry for rambling on! SLEEP IS JUST VERY INTERESTING! Very good video!

[HelgatheHorriblez]

I have KLS and I can attest to the recuperation theory. When I get sick, have a Behcet’s Disease flare or experience a physical trauma (like a burn) I end up going into a KLS event and spend days to weeks-sometimes months asleep. If I am feeling generally unwell for an extended amount of time- I can feel my body demanding long term sleep that can result in me sleeping in strange locations (like closets in high school) or completely shutting down until my body is well again. When I wake up from such events- I physically feel better, but remember very very little if anything of my “wakeful periods” and usually if someone feeds me while I’m sleeping- I’ll eat anything in excess and can result in weight gains. We have rules now- that if I’m “too tired” to go to the table to eat- then I’m not to be fed.

[mohamedzuhair]

Good review. But we need to add the spiritual dimension to sleep. Couple of my dreams had conviced me of this dimension. One dream in particular leaves no room for another justification. During my student days in USA, I saw one of my father's aunts in a dream. She was wearing a white robe, indicative of death. It was in early 1980s when communication was crude compared to today. While dreaming I heard the telephone ringing. My telepathic sense alerted me that the call was related to my dream. On responding to the call I asked whether she was dead. Surprisingly the caller wad the son of the person I was dreaming of. He infact confirmed that his mother has passed away and he was calling me to pass the message. The call came from the Maldives, which has a nine hour time difference from my location in New. This is convincing for the spiritual dimension of dreams.

[emmah]

so helpful for my final exam thank you!

[SpaghettiToaster]

4:20 how does this imply that most dreams are meaningless though? It doesn't really matter where the information supplied comes from, it's still filtered through the cortex and hence patterns that show up in dreams are clearly influenced by the patterns in the brain, which obviously correlate with a whole lot of things, such as memories and personality traits.

[foreverNwonder]

It deeply bothers me that I can rarely remember my dreams.
Only if I’m awakened due to noise or having to pee, do I remember my dream. But the more I try to access the memory, the faster it fades.

It’s like trying to grab a thin scarf as it falls through the air… just as my brain recalls, it slips away.

I don’t understand how ppl are able to write their dreams down. I wake up & write random words occasionally.. but nothing that makes sense.

[hajiqasim]

you are great professor. you have got a lot of subscriber

[crazyev]

How does exactly we respond while sleeping? Some people have this habit..but I'm a heavy sleeper

[foreverNwonder]

Re: the seemingly cyclical nature of sleep

I wonder if it has to do with the metabolic waste that accumulates in the brain. Doesn’t the brain flush that out during sleep? So maybe that’s why we need to sleep in this 24hr interval.

Maybe the build up of that waste causes the brain synapses to slow slightly, so the body experiences grogginess and slowed reactions?
Otherwise couldn’t we consume enough energy to stay away for longer periods?

Idk anything tbh, so don’t be too mad if I’m sounding like a complete fool 😆

[adleneboulebtateche]

A great video. Thanks a lot Professor.

[hanoufnouf]

What are the references to this video? any articles or studies related?

[minanasofue]

The night is mentioned as dangerous bc of its darkness so humans take sleeping action for conserving energy and not eat, which protects themselves from predators or even accidents.
But if they try to protect themselves, they should be awake in the night, should not they, ? Because in the dark, it can be much easier hunting time for them.

[MiltosPol-qnzh]

Proffesor, what video should I start watching first in o chem??? And any advices or further videos to watch???

[drhfhs]

Certainty slows us down so much technologically and socially . Arrogance, close minded Ness is a human nature which if man had mentally overcome in an alternate reality, we would own the stars the galaxies .

[horizonbrave]

Love it! So is there any merit to the idea/theory that the actual 'dream' that we have is experienced in the last few seconds of sleep? I heard that during the N3 cycle, our brain is inundated by images experienced through out the day each time we cycle back to N3. Then at the end of our sleep, and as we wake, in order for our brian to make sense of all the images it creates a very loose story or narrative to connect all the images. Hence why dreams are always so bizarre at times? So there's no real meaning, but it's just a way for our brain to connect images we've seen

[out_of_control]

The hypothalamus part of the brain is where Alzheimer's is affected. Do you believe that sleep deprivation could be a common denominator for the illness?

Pardon I asked this Q before I got to 7:58

[taylorbarnett]

I got an ad for a catholic prayer app lol 😂

[seanchavez]

Wouldn't go to far I to yea futurama is cool, but it has defaults

[thomaslong]

I wish I were more like a horse with 2 hours of sleep. I’d get a lot more done. But it would be hard to use my phone though.