Brain Waste

It seems I have waste on the brain, I mean literally. Read this interesting opinion piece by Maria Konnikova in the New York Times this morning, Goodnight. Sleep Clean.

I never thought about the brain creating waste and the need to have time set aside in order to clean out this waste. But after reading this it makes perfect sense to me.

"As your body sleeps, your brain is quite actively playing the part of mental janitor: It’s clearing out all of the junk that has accumulated as a result of your daily thinking."

I have sleep issues and without the aid of pills I probably would drop dead from lack of sleep. I tried to figure out what is different now, because I literally used to sleep like a baby. I suppose it is really a combination of lots of different things; less physical activity, age itself and the real culprit, I think - the electronic age.

I think my brain just gets so bombarded by electronic junk each day which comes from my television, my computer and phone and reading devices that it just can't get itself to a point where sleep can take over.

Dreams weren't mentioned in Goodnight. Sleep Clean, but I kind of think of dreams as the equipment that the brain's janitorial services uses to tidy things up.

Think about it. There is just so much more to be learned about our heady little organ.