Brainwork

Abstract

Sleep not only relieves sleepiness but has less obvious but vital recovery functions for the cerebral cortex, especially for our highly developed frontal lobes. These comprise a third of our cortex, and are largely responsible for our uniquely human and subtle behaviours, collectively called ‘executive functions’, involving much of our decision making and aspects of memory. Slow wave sleep (SWS), more specifically its lower EEG frequencies, particularly reflect this cortical recovery. But despite sophisticated brain imaging techniques, the modifications that occur during sleep, to cortical neurones and especially their accompanying glial cells , still remain to be determined.