What Does Your Nervous System Do While You Sleep?

Sleep is essential in allowing the brain and body to recover and recharge. Having a regular sleep pattern promotes enhanced physical and mental performance the following day and in the long term.

Not getting enough sleep means that your concentration, energy levels, and mood can suffer. This means, ensuring you get enough quality sleep – at least seven to nine hours for adults is critical.

What is Your Nervous System?

The nervous system is made up of fibers (nerves) that carry important messages to and from your brain and body. It’s made up of two parts:

• Central nervous system. This incorporates the brain and the spinal cord.
• Peripheral nervous system. This includes the nerves that go through the whole of your body.

The peripheral nervous system is further broken down into:

• Somatic nervous system. Made up of motor and sensory neurons that assist the body in performing involuntary activities.
• Autonomic nervous system. Made up of neurons that connect internal organs with the central nervous system (CNS).
• Sympathetic nervous system. Prepares the body for its fight or flight response and for energetic activities.
• Parasympathetic nervous system. Helps the body conserve energy while it relaxes and sleeps.

What Happens to the Brain and Body While It Sleeps?

While not everything is known about why we sleep, we do know that it's critical for our performance during the day, like thinking clearly and sustaining our attention. And while you sleep, some amazing things happen, such as:

Information is Processed

While you’re sleeping, your brain is still busy processing the information from the day. This is how long-term memories are created and stored away for later use.

Hormones Flood Your Body

Multiple different hormones are released during sleep, including melatonin. This is released by the pineal gland and is responsible for making you feel drowsy before bedtime.

The Sympathetic Nervous System Rests

As you sleep, the sympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for your fight or flight response can rest. One study showed that when we lack quality sleep, the activity of the sympathetic nervous system increases, which can bring with it an increase in blood pressure.

Cortisol Levels Lower

Cortisol is otherwise known as the stress hormone. It decreases in the first few hours of sleep and rises after we wake up, to help us perk up.

Muscles are Temporarily Paralyzed

During a sleep cycle, you alternate between non-rapid eye movement sleep (NREM) and rapid eye movement sleep (REM). At these times, your muscles become temporarily paralyzed. Experts think this is so you don’t physically act out your dreams.

If you struggle to get a quality night’s sleep, try out the guided meditations and soothing sleep sounds on the BetterSleep app.