Sleep

There are five major functions of sleep as defined by neuroscientists. These are energy conservation, reinforcement of ecological niche, body restoration, brain restoration, and memory consolidation. There are four major brain regions that are responsible for sleep. The basal forebrain causes slow wave sleep via GABAergic projections to the hypothalamus. The brainstem, specifically the reticular formation, activates forebrain to wakefulness via acetylcholine and norepinephrine. The pons induces REM sleep via GABAergic and glycinergic projections to the spinal motor neurons to suppress motor activity. The hypothalamus coordinates the circadian rhythm and switches between states of sleep via hypocretin projections to the other three brain regions aforementioned.