Category Archives: Sleep

May 15

The glymphatic system and neurodegeneration: a carwash for your brain   

If you’ve been keeping up with hot topics in neuroscience research, you may have recently started hearing buzz about the glymphatic system. This topic has been making waves in the fields of sleep and neurodegeneration research. Although we are learning new things about the brain every day, many of its major functions and critical pathways […]

November 15

When Dreams Become Reality

Dream-Reality Confusion in Borderline Personality Disorder Introduction When you look back at today, will you know if the day you lived was real or if it was all a dream? Think about major events in your life: a promotion, the birth of a child, a tragic accident, or the loss of a loved one. What […]

October 30

What Dreams Are Made Of

Introduction Dreaming is a mystical phenomenon. Dreams can take you on magical adventures, allowing you to soar through the sky and discover new worlds. They can also be more earnest, allowing you to relive experiences with loved ones, or imagine how a situation in waking life may have gone if different decisions were made. As […]

August 01

Glued to Your Bed

As we know, sleep is essential for the proper functioning of our brain. Although sleep deprivation has never been found to be fatal in humans, a lack of sleep has been linked to neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, as well as delirium and hallucinations (1). This is why a lot of research delves into how […]

April 21

The Genetic Curse of Fatal Insomnia

Not being able to fall asleep when you want to is frustrating. No matter how tired we are, we all have nights when we just can’t fall or stay asleep. The role of sleep in our everyday health is critical, which is no more apparent than the day after one of those sleepless nights when […]

March 11

The Future of the Neuroscience of Dreaming

What is the purpose of dreaming? What do the contents of your dreams mean? What is your brain doing during dreams to produce the sometimes surreal experiences that leave you confused upon waking? Why do we remember some parts of our dreams, but struggle to recall the events in others? The unsatisfying answer to these […]

December 17

The Big Sleep: How We Hibernate

As December deepens, we rapidly find ourselves coming up on the first day of winter. Though winter officially begins on the 21st, many animals began their preparations for the season far earlier this year. Any birdwatcher could easily tell you that most birds migrated south a long while ago, and any hiker could tell you […]

November 12

How Light Leads to Darkness: A Neural Link Between Nighttime Light and Depression

Nighttime light exposure can lead to depression. A new study brings us closer to understanding why, and what we can do about it.

July 09

How much does your brain pay attention while you’re asleep?

*Tick, tick, tick* I glance over into the dusty corner of the dimly lit room, and to my horror, I see what looks like some sort of explosive device fitted with a clock, inevitably ticking down to my demise. *Tick, tick, tick* I freeze in fear, unsure of how to resolve this situation. The ticking […]

April 30

Does cannabis help you sleep?

Marijuana is commonly used to help people fall asleep, but does the science back that up?