Where there is light, there is darkness and where there is life, there is death. Similarly, it is also a fact that where there is activity there is inactivity or rest. A meaningful physical activity is usually associated with consciousness and wakefulness. Nevertheless, one can be at physical rest when one is aware of the surroundings, while in another instant one may be at rest without being conscious about the surroundings, although not unconscious. The latter situation has been termed as sleep.
Sleep and wakefulness are behavioural complex phenomena regulated by different regions of the brain. Like any other complex neurobehavioural processes these phenomena may also be modulated by other physiological processes, viz. the body temperature, the circadian rhythm, etc. Since the basic unit of the brain is a neuron, any factor affecting the neuronal function is likely to affect the regulation of sleep and wakefulness. Therefore, the alterations in sleep-wakefulness may affect other physiological functions and vice versa, causing sleep-wake related disorders.
In this book an attempt has been make to present the neurobiological mechanisms of generation and regulation of sleep and wakefulness. To satisfy a wider spectrum of the readers with varying interest and depth of knowledge, the basic structure and functioning of a neuron has been explained as well as some complex neurobiological experiments have been described in as simple a way as possible. Attempts have been made to strike a balance between the two extremes; however, while doing so there might have been instances which apparently may seem to be difficult or over simplified to some section of the readers. Further, a large number of illustrations have been provided to help the readers in a clearer understanding of the subject. The topics dealing with sleep disorders have been carefully avoided in this book.
Sleep-wakefulness is a complex behavioural process experienced by each of us throughout life. Although one spends almost half the time in sleep, there are very few books especially for the common man to know and under-stand such complex and important phenomena. I thank the National Book Trust for inviting me to write this book and also for bringing my efforts to a reality. I am very grateful to Prof. P. N. Tandon for kindly writing the Foreword of this book.
The most beautiful and fascinating phenomena in this universe are probably the living object and the life process, respectively. The latter, the essence of living matter, is composed of several reasonably complex to very complex biological phenomena. Each of these phenomena may directly or indirectly influence several other phenomena and vice versa. Some of these phenomena are absolutely essential for life in the sense that their absence or malfunctioning are immediately reflected and may be life-threatening, while the effects of some others may have a cumulative effect and may find expression later on.
There are certain basic phenomena in life which are taken for granted and as a result often do not draw our immediate attention for conscious and concerted effort to understand them. It is further aggravated if the phenomenon in question does not possess immediate nuisance value. This makes researchers put relatively less emphasis in probing the phenomenon which naturally results in a relative lack of knowledge and consequent ignorance on the subject. Sleep and wakefulness are among such less under-stood phenomena.
In normal daily life one may feel pain in a certain part of the body and may become concerned if the pain appears near or around a vital organ of the body. One may become worried if there is increased sweating or difficulty in urination or breathing, and so on. There is no denying that each of these changes must have an underlying cause which may seem trivial but have not so serious or a serious consequence. It should also be remembered that all such changes are manifestations of alterations in one or more functions, which try to maintain the physiological performance of the body at a normal level. Here, I am trying to emphasise the fact that there are external manifestations for most of the underlying physiological phenomena (normal or altered) and because of that investigations on some of such problems have been relatively more highlighted and accordingly better probed. Naturally there-fore, we have acquired relatively more knowledge about such phenomena. However, so far, the subject of sleep-wakefulness was not fortunate enough to fall into that category and thus, has not been investigated to a great extent. Added to that, there has been relatively slower progress in the field of brain research, which is central to research in sleep-wakefulness. Nevertheless, knowledge gathered during the last half a century or so has helped us immensely in understanding the phenomena and functions of sleep and wakefulness. Based on these findings, we would try to understand sleep and wakefulness in a modest way and also from the point of view of a nonexpert.
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