MEPX
Chapter 7 of 10All chapters

Chapter 7 of 10

Sleep and energy

Maintenance is not optional.

What sleep does

Memory consolidation, clearance of metabolic waste and synaptic housekeeping all occur during sleep. Deprivation degrades attention, judgement and mood measurably.

  • The brain is highly active during sleep, not switched off.
  • Chronic short sleep produces impairment people stop noticing in themselves.

Energy use

Around 20 percent of the body's energy for 2 percent of its weight, most of it spent on baseline activity rather than on thinking hard.