Consciousness loses an important function during sleep

Some kind of mystery is taking place in ours brain when we dream. It appears to be awake, but it is actually quite different. However, another clue has recently been discovered. U.S Awareness when let’s sleeploses the capacity from Awareness of the sounds. A function that turns off like a switch during sleep and helps to understand the brain’s mechanism during dreaming. The research team conducted the brain mapping study in epileptic patients.

We were able to use a special medical procedure where electrodes were implanted in the brains of patients with epilepsy, which monitored activity in different parts of their brains for diagnosis and treatment. Our results have broad implications beyond this particular experiment. In future research, we intend to further investigate the mechanisms responsible for this difference.

Yuval Nir, neuroscientist, Tel Aviv University

This allowed scientists to understand the different reactions in the cerebral cortex during different sleep phases up to the single neuron. At the end of the experiment, there was the reproduction of different sounds with loudspeakers on the volunteers of the experiment. Over an eight-year period, data was collected on more than 700 neurons. In practice, there is a substantial difference in how sound-related signals are processed while we sleep.

The strength of the brain response during sleep was comparable to the response observed during wakefulness, except for one in all specifics, which recorded a dramatic difference: the level of alpha-beta wave activity.

Hanna Hayat, neuroscientist, Tel Aviv University

The alpha beta waves they are controlled by the upper part of the brain. The latter provides feedback to help our minds understand which sounds are important and what to listen to. In short, a study that represents a conundrum to researchers that the conscious brain from that unconscious.