Sleeping well

Sleeping is a state characterised by the suspension of consciousness, loss of response to external stimuli and decreased motor activity. Normally, the eyes are closed and a typical supported posture adopted.  

Sleeping is a function of the nervous system notable for being natural, necessary, periodic, cyclical and reversible. It is universal in the animal kingdom. It is essential for life, since its absolute deprivation leads to death in less than four weeks.  

Sleep consists of a complex network of neurological mechanisms that converge in a state where the energy and metabolic needs of the brain do not disappear, but are maintained and may even be higher than required in the daytime (in some phases of sleep and in some regions of the brain). Sleep is, therefore, a dynamic state in which neurons are still active and performing functions different from those conducted during the day.