 [ Symptoms ] why do we need sleep [ Disease ] it is a simple question that you would think would have a simple answer we know that sleep has restorative effects on our bodies down to the cellular level but how it all works from a biological perspective has been somewhat of a mystery now we have got more details to help tell the story of just what exactly goes on new research suggests that during the initial stages of sleep energy levels increase dramatically in brain regions that are active when we are awake the scientists behind this latest study believe that this surge of cellular energy may replenish the brain is processes that we need to function normally during the day “energy ” by the way refers to atp adenosine triphosphate which is our body is chief energy molecule it is also the same energy currency in other animals like rats which were used in the study the researchers found the following * atp levels increased in four key brain regions that are normally active during wakefulness when the rats were in non rem sleep * during this time however an overall decrease in brain activity occurred * when the animals were awake atp levels remained steady * when the rats were gently nudged to stay awake three or six hours past their normal sleep times there was no increase in atp levels what does all this mean the authors concluded that sleep is necessary for this atp energy surge as keeping the rats awake depriving them of sleep to mimic a sleep deprived human prevented the surge the energy increase may power restorative processes absent during wakefulness because brain cells consume large amounts of energy just to perform daily waking functions indeed there is a lot to do when we are awake in addition to all the tasks we complete consciously think about all the things we do practically subconsciously like breathing think about things we do almost on autopilot surfing the net walking the dog sometimes even driving a familiar route all this activity requires — you got it — the atp energy that appears to be produced by a good night is sleep and a good night is sleep is exactly what the doctor ordered to prepare us for the rigors of our day no sleep no energy expended in the brain to help us recover from the day and in essence recharge our minds for the next adventures of the next day it is also worth noting that the precise mechanics of the brain also remain a mystery to some degree there is no doubt that the brain requires a lot of energy to function as the body is master of ceremonies we already know that sleep loss can actually result in brain loss in fact the obligations of the brain may be the only reason we need sleep because without a brain the body is not worth much and it certainly can not do much in addition to food water and oxygen the