The New Theory About Why Animals Sleep: to Maintain the Immune System

April 13, 2009 | Source: Discover

An international team of researchers recently published evidence that sleep may have evolved to protect animals from dis­ease: animals that sleep the longest had six times as many immune cells as those that sleep the shortest.

Sleep also allows the brain to reorganize connections between neurons, consolidate memories, and synthesize proteins and cholesterols that are important in tissue repair,