- waste
- schedule
- stuffed
- avoid
- calm
We humans spend about one-third of our lives asleep. This may sound like a lot of time, but it is not wasted.
Sleep helps us stay healthy, and it also helps our brains remember. Our brains need good sleep to remember what we do and learn during the other two-thirds of our lives when we are awake.
Besides keeping us healthy, some new research shows that a good night’s sleep helps make us more intelligent.
Scientist Chiara Cirelli told VOA that sleep is when the human brain mixes information it has learned while awake into its general collection of knowledge.
However, the brain forgets unimportant details. This forgetting is important. It makes space for new learning and new memories.
The research findings are the result of more than ten years of work at the University of Wisconsin – Madison.
The Mayo Clinic is a respected research hospital in Rochester, Minnesota. It gives these six suggestions for getting a good night’s sleep:
1. Stay on schedule.
2. Don’t go to bed hungry or stuffed. And avoid caffeine, nicotine and alcohol before bed.
3. Create a calm, restful sleep environment. Make your room as cool, quiet and dark as possible.
4. Limit daytime naps.
5. Exercise during the day.
6. Manage your worries. Try to calm any worries or concerns you might have before going to bed.
Discussion
- What do you think about the results of the new research?
- Do you often have trouble falling asleep? If so, why?
- Do you use any of the Mayo clinic's six suggestions for getting a good night's sleep? Why? Why not?
- Which of the six suggestions do you think is the most important? Why?
- Do you have any unhealthy sleeping habits that you'd like to change?
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