Researchers have found out that part of our brain can have mini-naps, while you are actually awake. It is like partly going offline. This can be the cause for the feeling of sleepiness, forgetfulness and making small errors. This micro-sleep does not affect the entire brain, but small parts of it. Some neurons can go offline, which means that part of our brains is asleep. This local sleep could for example cause people falling asleep behind the wheel. The researchers tested a specific group of neurons in the brains of rats, which were kept awake for some time. They started making mistakes after a long while of being kept awake.
The brain really can be half asleep, claims research http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/8476781/The-brain-really-can-be-half-asleep-claims-research.html
It is good to know that my brains can partly fall asleep, while the other part stays awake to finish this assignment. As I am a big fan of sleeping, this is an interesting article. It does happen often, that I make small errors (or big ones). So now I have an explanation for my manager when I make a small mistake like for example forgetting a zero in an offer to a client. It is a pity that you cannot decide which part of your part is allowed to get some sleep, so you can eliminate the risk of forgetting for example your wallet in the supermarket.
Interesting to read! I think I am able to say that I have experienced what is told in the article. After being concentrated from 12- 10 p.m. at school, I feel a part of my brains are too tired to stay active.
BeantwoordenVerwijderenSomething which relates to this article are the short naps. With sleeping you have got two stages: rapid eye movement (REM) and non-rapid eye movement (NREM or non-REM). The military is trained to go directly to the REM, normally it takes some time to be at the stage of REM. I would love to learn it though.