It's a dark night, but the badger is not sleeping … his ion channel is clogged, but everything is in order with the eggs !
“All these scientists have fallen into childhood …” - someone will think. But in fact, they only came up with terminology to only explain the mysterious nature of sleep … Why do we fall asleep at all and what makes us wake up? Allegedly, the whole point is in this very "Sandman" … And don't say that you don't believe in elves !!!
Scientists at Oxford University have found an ion channel that "switches" the human brain from sleep to wakefulness, and vice versa. They concluded that sleep is divided into two systems: the circadian (daily) clock and homeostasis (self-regulation). The circadian clock is well studied, it is associated with a person's perception of the change of day and night.
According to Professor Gero Miesenbeck, the answer to the question of what makes us fall asleep lies in the yet unknown homeostasis of sleep.
“Homeostasis measures something that happens in our brains while awake, and tracks a person's need for sleep. During sleep, the system is renewed, and everything starts anew with our awakening,”he notes.
In 2002, a scientist and his team, using an experiment on fruit flies, proved that there are neurons that control sleep in the brains of insects, animals and, possibly, humans. If they were active, it means that the fly was asleep, and if they were turned off, it woke up.
According to a recent study, the "switch" of neurons is the ion channel, nicknamed by scientists "Sandman" (the hero of European and Scandinavian folklore, the lord of sleep).
It goes to neurons and activates them, causing the fly to fall asleep. When the insect gets enough sleep, homeostasis sends a signal to the "Sandman", and he goes to the side, "turning off" neurons and awakening the fly. How everything is running!
Promotional video:
Scientists plan to find out more: how exactly homeostasis measures wealth and lack of sleep.
The video will tell you about the nature of sleep:
