Sleep Centers in the Brain
Sleep is not a passive state to be considered the simple opposite or lack of being awake. On the contrary it is actively induced and controlled. It is actually an ever changing, dynamic state. Sleep emerges as the result of the activity of cells in the ‘primitive’, non-thinking portions of the brain such as the brainstem and hypothalamus. These cells are organized into groups or “nuclei” that connect with each other, other parts of the brain and spinal cord in an extraordinarily complex manner.
Nerve cells transmit their signals by means of electrochemical activity down the long fibers of nerve cells termed axons. However, the communication between nerve cells and the information being sent is actually accomplished by chemicals produced at the end of these fibers, termed neurotransmitters. Many neurotransmitters are required for the regulation of sleep and wake states including serotonin, norepinepherine, acetylcholine, histamine and hypocretin to name a few. Research on the neurobiology of sleep and wake control is growing rapidly. Very recently, provocative new research suggested that more of our brain remains active and “awake” during sleep than previously thought.
