Wonderbringers Newsletter with Monica Parker
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Hello Wonderseekers,
I was up late this Monday watching my alma mater, the Miami Hurricanes, play the Indiana Hoosiers for the college football championship. The U gave it their all, but the Hoosiers deserved their win. It was a nail-biter until the very end.
I abandoned ship at halftime (around 3am for me), and the next day I was dragging. You know that ‘stare off into middle distance’ feeling where you're not even sure if you’ve even blinked for the last 30 seconds? Well, it turns out that when you’re sleep-deprived and find yourself spacing out, you’re not having a brain glitch so much as a quick tidy-up of your noggin.
MIT researchers discovered that those attention lapses when you’ve not had enough sleep aren't just fatigue. Your brain is actually triggering waves of cerebrospinal fluid to flush out waste, a process that normally happens during deep sleep. To do this cleaning during waking hours, your attention briefly shuts down. It's your brain's attempt to compensate for missed rest, even if it means temporarily pulling you offline.
The glymphatic system, which is responsible for clearing brain waste, is significantly more active when we sleep. Neurons fire in coordinated, rhythmic waves that propel cerebrospinal fluid through the brain tissue, physically flushing out toxic waste products. So when you’re sleep-deprived, your brain prioritises taking out the trash over staying awake. This explains why you can't simply ‘power through’ exhaustion. Your brain will force these cleaning sessions whether you like it or not, essentially creating microsleep-like states even though you're technically awake.
When you start feeling like you’re a droid who’s been powered down by the Jawa scrap dealers, it’s your sign to grab a nap. Experts say the perfect timing is 20-30 minutes. If you find yourself waking up a bit groggy, you might have slept too long. If it happens even after a short nap, try a Nappuccino, which is where you down a cup of espresso and then immediately take a nap. Caffeine takes about 20 minutes to hit your system, and by then, you’ll wake up nice and refreshed. Meanwhile, your brain will have gotten itself shipshape for the rest of the day. Just don’t try a caffeine nap too late in the day, because it might make sleep that evening a challenge, and you’ll be back right where you started.
Sweet dreams!
Some wonderbringers for me this week:
Even if you are happy with just your own company: Social isolation speeds up cognitive decline.
How to think differently about procrastination: A different mindset promises less self-judgment and more progress.
Why consciousness is the hardest problem in science: Will brain science deliver answers about consciousness or hit another wall?
In just a few weeks I’ll be in Ireland at the Resonance Festival. Will any of you be joining me there?
With wonder,
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