Do you ever feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day? Part of the reason could be how much time you spend sleeping. Adults need between seven and nine hours of daily sleep to function at optimal levels. When you factor in an eight-hour workday, commute times, and meal preparation and consumption, there’s very little time left to pursue other ventures.
However, technology could solve this issue in the future via simulated sleep. The concept involves tricking your brain and body into believing you’ve had enough sleep while resting for only a few hours. The result would be greater productivity and more time to do the things you desire. Here’s a closer look at the concept of simulated sleep.
Simulated sleep would involve stimulating the parts of the brain responsible for rest. There are challenges to overcome before it’s a reality, but researchers are investigating its potential. Here’s what you should know about the concept:
How Sleep Works
The hypothalamus is a small part of your brain that controls your sleep. It has a cluster of cells called the suprachiasmatic nucleus, which receives information on light exposure. These cells are why we have difficulty sleeping during the day, but people with damage to these cells could experience irregular sleep patterns.
The brain stem communicates with the hypothalamus to help you transition between wake and sleep. The brain stem also helps with REM sleep, relaxing our muscles so we don’t act out while dreaming.
The thalamus, cerebral cortex, pineal gland, basal forebrain, and amygdala also play a part in the sleep process. Tricking these parts of your brain into thinking you’re getting enough sleep is a challenge, but that’s what researchers are trying to do.
Why We Need Sleep
Before all else, it’s a good idea to understand what sleep does for our brains. You spend about one-third of your life sleeping, and the act is as essential to a human as food or water. Sleep is vital to various brain functions, like how its nerve cells communicate with each other.
Sleep is also when your brain stores new information and eliminates waste. Your body repairs cells and restores its energy levels during this rest, too, allowing you to feel refreshed in the morning.
Stimulated Deep Sleep
One study worth looking at doesn’t involve sleep simulation but rather deep sleep stimulation. In short, as adults age, their slow-wave sleep diminishes. This issue reduces the therapeutic benefits of sleep.
In a study published in the medical journal Communications Medicine, researchers used auditory stimulation to increase these slow waves in a group of adults aged 62 to 78. Researchers could coax their brains into a deeper sleep by administering precisely timed sounds while the subjects slept. Better sleep quality can promote brain and body health in older adults, reducing the effects of aging on their cognitive abilities.
While this research has yet to lead to the release of any sleep-assisting auditory stimulation devices, it could be something to consider in the future. Using sound to increase your sleep quality could be an easy way to improve your quality of life.
Total Sleep Simulation
Another idea researchers are looking at is total sleep simulation. Much like it sounds, this technique would allow humans to skip the eight hours of sleep at night and wake up feeling refreshed after only a couple of hours.
We’re still determining how sleep simulation would be achieved, but a few ideas are worth considering. The goal is to create a device that’s safe for humans to wear but gives the desired effect.
First, a device targeting specific areas of the brain with low-level electrical stimulation could be possible. Cranial electrotherapy stimulation is already used for treating depression, anxiety, and insomnia, and there’s a chance it could apply to sleep simulation.
This device would alter your brain activity to mimic the slow waves of deep sleep. You’d then immediately go into a deep sleep and wake up feeling refreshed a few hours later.
Another possibility is a device that stimulates the parts of the brain responsible for sleep. It would have to send a signal to the brain that tricks it into believing it has experienced a whole night of rest while triggering sleep’s regenerative qualities.
A potential issue with these ideas is that sleep also restores the body. After a long day of work or intense exercise, your body needs rest to rejuvenate tired, sore muscles, and time is the only thing that assists in that regard. Scientists would have to develop a way to restore the body to compensate for the lack of rest.
The Pros and Cons of Needing Less Sleep
We have a long way to go before simulated sleep technology is a reality, but it doesn’t hurt to think of the benefits. Having a few more hours in the day would allow you to do all kinds of activities, leading to a fuller life.
For starters, you’d be more productive. You wouldn’t have to choose between continuing your career or returning to school because you’d have time for both. You could also pursue hobbies in your spare time.
You’d have more time for socializing. In today’s busy world, time with friends often takes a back seat to work and family commitments, but needing less sleep would alleviate that issue.
The average lifespan in humans would increase, too. As humans sleep less, our lifespans shorten, but reducing the amount of sleep you need makes it more likely that you’ll reach optimal rest most nights.
Of course, the main drawback is that employers would expect more of you and could begin cutting into your free time once they know simulated sleep exists. You might like sleep, too, so getting less of it is a drawback.
The Future of Sleep
How these ideas will develop remains a mystery, but it’s exciting to think of the possibilities. Getting a full night’s rest in a few hours seems impossible, but some research suggests otherwise.
Would you like to only sleep for two or three hours per night? Let us know in the comment section and remember to share this information with the science lover in your life.