What really happens to your body when you’re sleeping?

What really happens to your body when you’re sleeping?

Did you know that you spend 1/3rd of your life sleeping? Sleep allows your body to repair and detoxify itself after a hard day’s work. When you’re sleeping, a plethora of activities take place in your body, which are essential for your physical, emotional and mental well-being. Read on to find out what happens to your different body parts after you’ve drifted off…

Brain
Even though activity in the brain’s cortex (the outer part of the brain) falls by about 40% in the first few stages of sleep, your brain still continues to remain extremely active; especially in the final stage. During the REM phase your brain activity increases with your blood flow rising considerably in those areas of the brain that are responsible for processing emotional experiences and memories.

Eyes
Like the brain, even the eyes are active when you’re asleep and the movement of your eyes is indicative of the different stages of sleep. REM (rapid eye movement) sleep denotes deep sleep and occurs in the first 90 minutes of falling asleep (which is dreamless sleep). On the other hand, NREM sleep (non-rapid eye movement) is when you’re dreaming and your sleep quality is rather poor in comparison. This takes place during the later part of your sleep.

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The rise and fall of television in India

Why does TV focus endlessly on the deeds of the least inspiring section of our society, the politicians?

A friend of mine recently donated her TV set to her maid. She says: “I felt depressed, even disgusted, by what I saw on TV.” Today, she is a happier and more positive person. “I’ve more time than before,” she says, “for friends, for travel, for walks and concerts and other simple pleasures.”

She isn’t alone. Others haven’t actually given away their TV sets but have stopped watching it. They do so only for the occasional movie, or for news of a major event.

I agree with my friend about the pernicious effects of television. TV channels are loaded with negativity. To be fair to them, they can do nothing about natural disasters (floods, earthquakes, tsunamis…) or about inhumanity (terrorist strikes, coups, violence, corruption, crime, rape…).

Read the Open Page article published in TH dt 7th Jul 2015