Purpose of sleep ''unexplained''
26/08/2008
It has been reported that the purpose of sleep is still being researched, with scientists admitting that there are still many mysteries surrounding its functions.
A recent research piece for open-access journal Public Library of Science Biology (PLoS) by Chiara Cirelli and Giulio Tononi revealed that the core reasons for sleep were a natural conclusion to a complex process involving cells, organs and the organism as a whole.
The scientists added that after noting the sleep process of the dolphin - which plunges one half of its brain into deep sleep at a time - the importance of sleep in all mammals was not simply a manifestation of the immobile state of rest, known as the "null hypothesis".
Ms Cirelli noted: "Everybody knows that sleep is important, yet the function of sleep seems like the mythological phoenix.
"We don''t understand the purpose of sleep, but it must be important because all animals do it."
Science Daily reported on another sleep study published in PLoS Biology which noted the ongoing studies into sleep using worms to understand the effects of ultra-violet light on rest.
