In the 2006 movie "Peaceful Warrior," Nick Nolte is a mysterious stranger who coaches an aspiring Olympic athlete on how to excel in sport - and in life: "Take out the trash," he tells him. "'The trash' is anything that's keeping you from the only thing that matters - the here and now. And when you truly are in the here and now, you'll be amazed at what you can do and how well you can do it."
Sleep researchers from Boston University would agree. They suggest that in order to preserve your ability to know what's going on in the here and now, you want to take out your brain's trash every night!
In a study published in Science, they show that during non-REM sleep, neurons temporarily stop firing, blood flow to the brain decreases and the brain becomes bathed with cerebrospinal fluid. Sleep scientists think this helps flush metabolic byproducts such as beta amyloid from the brain, protecting your memory abilities and reducing the risk of Alzheimer's.
Another new study in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General confirms how essential high-quality sleep is. The researchers discovered that sleep-deprived people double their risk for problems with placekeeping (the ability to complete a series of steps, despite interruptions) and triple their risk of spacing out.
So for optimal functioning tomorrow and in future decades make sure you get seven to eight hours of good sleep nightly. How? Meditate before bedtime. Make your bedroom cool, dark (red wavelength light only), quiet and digital-device-free. Then take out the trash.
Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.
Read more http://cdn.kingfeatures.com/rss/feed/editorial/index.php?content=YouDocTips_20191223