Flourish Health & Wellbeing eMag - Sept25 - Flipbook - Page 29
Sleep Prepares the Brain
for Learning
When we’re well rested, our brains are
in a much be琀琀er place to absorb new
informa琀椀on. Think of sleep like charging
your brain’s ba琀琀ery. A昀琀er a good
sleep, we can pay be琀琀er a琀琀en琀椀on,
concentrate more easily and take in
new ideas with less e昀昀ort.
Sleep also helps new informa琀椀on s琀椀ck.
During the night, our brains replay
what we’ve learned and experienced
throughout the day. This helps to
strengthen the neural connec琀椀ons that
store those memories, so we’re more
likely to remember them later on.
Interes琀椀ngly, di昀昀erent stages of sleep
support di昀昀erent types of memory.
So whether you’re learning to play the
piano or trying to memorise facts for
a test, sleep gives your brain the 琀椀me
it needs to sort, store and strengthen
those skills and pieces of informa琀椀on.
‘Sleep On It’ – There’s a Reason That
Saying Exists
Ever been told to 'sleep on it' before
making a big decision? There’s science
behind that advice. Sleep doesn’t just
help us remember — it can also boost
crea琀椀vity and problem-solving. While
we snooze, our brains keep working,
昀椀nding new ways to look at things and
some琀椀mes helping us come up with
fresh solu琀椀ons to problems. So next
琀椀me you’re stuck on something tricky,
a solid night’s sleep might be just what
you need to 昀椀gure it out.
The Foggy Brain Effect of Too
Little Sleep
We’ve all had those days where we feel
foggy, 昀氀at and easily distracted. O昀琀en,
that’s the result of not ge琀�ng enough
sleep. When we’re sleep-deprived, our
ability to concentrate, learn, and recall
informa琀椀on takes a hit. In fact, being
awake for 18 hours straight a昀昀ects your
reac琀椀on 琀椀me and focus in a similar way
to having a blood alcohol concentra琀椀on
of 0.05%. That’s the legal drink-driving
limit in many parts of Australia — so it’s
no surprise we’re not at our best.
We’re also less alert at certain 琀椀mes
of the day. Performance tends to dip
between 2–4am and again around
2–4pm. For shi昀琀 workers, these periods
can be par琀椀cularly risky, especially if
they’re already running low on sleep.
Understanding these natural dips in
alertness is crucial for managing fa琀椀gue,
both on the job and on the road.
Sleep Loss Affects Your Decisions Too
It’s not just thinking and memory
that take a hit when we’re 琀椀red —
our decision-making goes downhill
too. Studies show that a昀琀er just a
week of ge琀�ng 昀椀ve hours of sleep a
night, people make riskier choices on
gambling tasks, act more impulsively,
and show poorer judgement compared
to those who get a full eight hours.
Brain scans reveal why this happens.
When we’re sleep-deprived, the
parts of our brain that help us weigh
up nega琀椀ve consequences become
less ac琀椀ve, while the parts that
respond to rewards go into overdrive.
In other words, we’re more likely to
take risks, misjudge situa琀椀ons, and
overlook poten琀椀al downsides — which
can lead to mistakes, accidents and
even injuries.
