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In our region of the world, "Thanksgiving" usually means a seasonal food feast with family and / or friends, sometimes followed by a nap.
A "nap", of course, is a short sleep during the day, outside of our usual nighttime sleep regime. But it seems that our current definition of what constitutes "habitual" sleep is false. While today's western societies consider the norm as an uninterrupted night's sleep for about eight hours, there is ample evidence that our species is naturally inclined to rise for an hour or two in the middle of the night: the old recordings refer to For example, when they had a "first sleep" and a "second sleep", and in recent research on people who had artificially long nights, they naturally developed a sleep pattern in two periods. And certainly many cultures (and individuals) still expect adults to sleep a bit in the middle of the day.
Although not in hibernation, sleep is characterized by reduced consciousness, inactive voluntary muscles, and reduced sensory activity. Although people sometimes view sleep as an indulgence, it plays an important role in our physical and mental functions. Sleep is an opportunity for the body to restore or repair various systems, from muscle to skeleton, from the nervous to the immune system. Sleep is also when the brain sorts and stores the memories of the day.
All types of sleep are not identical: for some mammals, part of the sleep involves intense brain activity (paradoxical sleep) and part of sleep a low intensity brain activity (non-paradoxical sleep). In addition, non-REM sleep occurs in several different types when the brain goes through different stages of rest.
Non-humans sleep too, of course. Have you ever seen a dog dreaming of a pursuit, a contraction and a barking in his sleep? But while people usually sleep about eight hours a day, other species need more or less sleep, which varies a lot. According to a list compiled from other work published on Dr. Eric Chudler's "Neuroscience for Children" website, giraffes only need two hours of sleep a day, and the bald ones -Brown mice require nearly 20 hours of sleep a day and night.
Most mammals have several periods of sleep during the day ("multiphase"); the ancestral human model of "sleeping, waking, sleeping" in the night is called "biphasic".
Different animals sleep at different times. While today we are usually asleep at night and waking up in the daytime ("diurnal"), many other mammals and some birds sleep more often during the day and wake up at night ("nocturnal") – the most rodents and owls, for examples.
There are also intermediate calendars, such as "crepuscular" animals such as rabbits, who are more awake at dawn and dusk.
Unconsciousness of sleep can be dangerous and prey animals that must stay constantly on the lookout tend to sleep less hours and depth than predators.
Stopping the muscle response during sleep can be particularly difficult for animals that need to stay in motion to survive, such as whales that must continually come to the surface to breathe. Whales participate in "one-hemispheric sleep", leaving each side of their brains to rest while the other continues to stay alert and keep the systems running.
Birds and mammals sleep, but at least some reptiles, fish and invertebrates – even animals such as flies and roundworms have resting stages with the same sleeping characteristics.
So why do not we see more sleeping animals? Part of the answer, of course, is that not all animals spend a lot of time sleeping. Another part of the answer is that most animals look for the most hidden and safe place to sleep, providing some protection while they are unconscious.
As diurnal animals, we tend to drowsiness (as opposed to fatigue) when there is an increase in the hormone melatonin. We tend to fall asleep in winter because the shorter days of the season lead to less sun – and less sun means that our brain produces more melatonin.
Other chemicals can increase drowsiness, such as tryptophan, an amino acid. Tryptophan does not make you sleepy, but triggers a chain reaction that ultimately stimulates your serotonin, making you feel relaxed and a little sleepy.
Because turkey has tryptophan, it is commonly accepted that turkey makes us sleepy, causing post-Thanksgiving naps.
But does eating turkey really make us sleepy?
No, this is not the case. Some other foods, such as cheddar cheese and pork chops, have higher levels of tryptophan than turkey. The real culprit of the post-Thanksgiving nap-is the belly full of carbs: mashed potatoes, yams, stuffing / salad dressing, buns and pie – plus any glass of wine.
Whether it is induced by carbohydrates or by your ancestral sleep cycle, you can legitimately claim that your post-party nap is natural. Zzzzz …
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