Sie sind auf Seite 1von 3

Rikki Marie M.

Gardoce Cognitive Psychology


ABPSY-II PY2-01 Prof. Grace Daliva
Reflection Paper August 27, 2019

Quiet! Sleeping Brain at Work


By Robert Stickgold and Jeffrey M. Ellenbogen

I used to study at night before the day of major exams until dawn. I actually preferred that
period because there was no longer noise from the environment so I could concentrate on my
studies. I had also a kind of fear that if I sleep for a longer time after reviewing, it might be
forgotten on the next day so I deprived myself from sleep every exam period. Actually, most of
my classmates were practicing it too. It really worked on me personally since I always received
high scores on my exams. I continued that practice until I graduated from senior high school with
flying colors. However, when college started, little by little I began to ask myself why most of
the lessons that we discussed during senior high school were already forgotten even for a short
period of time. Indeed, I easily recollected the points that I reviewed during the exam but after
that, it really faded until I no longer have the capability to retrieve that information because it
completely drifted away from my mind. In fact, I can still remember junior high school lessons
than the newer ones. This inquiry left unanswered until my freshmen year.

The lessons that we tackled during our class last school year, plus the additional and more
comprehensive explanations that I read in the article helped me to learn that sleeping is so
necessary for the information to be processed properly so it can be stabilized and enhanced until
it transferred to the long-term memory. Furthermore, deprivation of sleep will more likely to
forget the processed information as it hinders memory consolidation that actually takes place
with more than six hours of sleep. I, with less than five hours of slumber when I was a senior
high school student truly answered the question left hanging in my mind. I regretted two years of
doing that bad practice as it became literally useless. Lately, I also noticed that I became
forgetful and my mom would really have to remind me just to remember something. It really
bothers me, thinking that I am just on the range of early adulthood. I can’t really imagine how
severely forgetful I am when I get older. I am used to stay awake late at night until now, but as I
try to apply the concepts that I learned upon reading the article, I will begin to make steps toward
having a healthy sleep from this time. More importantly, I will make sure that I can achieve a
Rikki Marie M. Gardoce Cognitive Psychology
ABPSY-II PY2-01 Prof. Grace Daliva
Reflection Paper August 27, 2019

complete and quality sleep when the major exam week comes. I should also try to establish a
study habit that will lessen the length of time that I need to spend so I can have a quality sleep
before the major exam day. Indeed, sleeping is basically essential as eating.

Upon reading the article, it changed the mindset that I had every since I had the
consciousness of things. Years ago, I believed that our brain is completely shut off when we are
in a slumber because this is the only chance in every 24 hours to rest. But I learned that our brain
is at work even when we are asleep. I think summer vacation is very significant to me to pause
for a while in the everyday struggles of life especially in school. It is the perfect opportunity to
pamper myself to sleep to be able to repair massive damage during the past school year.
Nevertheless, I noticed that I have a clear thinking and stronger motivation to study every
beginning of the trimester and I think the rationale behind this is having an adequate sleep before
the start of class, meaning a sleep that went through the Rapid Eye Movement sleep. This phase
of sleep works to consolidate memories so the information can last long.

As I have observed from my sister who doesn’t have a normal working hour, most of the
time her sleep is disrupted and I can see the changes in her productivity throughout the day,
including her way of thinking and weak retrieval of memories so I assumed that she might be
failing to experience REM sleep phase. Aside from me, my mom also noticed the result of her
unhealthy sleep so we advised her to look for another job and gratefully, she will be starting her
new job next month. If before I deprived myself from sleep due to the fear of unsuccessful
consolidation of memories, now I learned that achieving REM phase when sleeping is the right
way to strengthen memory and performance. But according to the article, low wave sleep is as
crucial as REM sleep. All phases of sleep do something to improve memory compared to being
awake. I believe that this insight will be more beneficial if it is being taught even in high school
because nowadays, plenty of Filipino teenagers love to stay up late at night for most of them
think that it is a cool thing to do. They must be aware of the dangers of sleep deprivation that
will cause so much damage in the long run. Due to the modern technology, teenagers are hooked
taking advantage of their gadgets but don’t realize what they are compromising. As a student
who’s learning these fascinating insights about sleeping and brain activity, I share it to my family
and
Rikki Marie M. Gardoce Cognitive Psychology
ABPSY-II PY2-01 Prof. Grace Daliva
Reflection Paper August 27, 2019

friends as much as possible. Of course, I make sure that I walk my talk so I’m starting to adjust
my sleeping patterns together with my sister. I believe that quality sleep particularly more than
six hours also maintains mental health for most of the people. I learned from the article that our
brain also engages to solving problems after memories being strengthened and this ability helps
the individual to manage their stress easier and eventually slows down the development of
disorders such as depression or anxiety.

Lastly, I learned from the article that sleep lets our brain identify what memory is worth
keeping and maintaining or enhancing these aspects of a memory. Based from my own
experience, this is really true. Our brain mostly keeps the emotional memory and lets the
unemotional one to fade. The limbic system is found in our brain so it is safe to say that emotions
are strongly linked to our memories. Frequently, the most unforgettable memories of an
individual depend on the degree of emotion that the particular event has. For instance, one of the
happiest moments that I had was when I celebrated by graduation. That event indeed gave me so
much joy and that’s the reason why this memory is still clear to my recollection. One strategy
that I do is to recreate mental pictures of those memories oftentimes so that it will be
strengthened even more and will not be susceptible to forgetting. I personally like this specific
ability of the brain because this is one fascinating reason to debunk the argument that we humans
are just a higher form of animal. In fact, we are the highest form of God’s creation here on Earth.

Nonetheless, not all emotional memories that we have bring satisfaction to us when
recognizing it. For example, I can still recall the most embarrassing moment of my life due to the
intense abashment that I experienced when I fell from the stairs down to our school ground when
I was at my puberty stage. Unfortunately, even the saddest event that I experienced is still very
vivid in my mind to the point that it makes me feel that it is as fresh as yesterday. But the good
side of retaining the emotional memories is it helps us find the meaning in what we have learned.
Learning becomes complex and entails critical thinking which is much better than basic learning
especially that I am currently growing and maturing. And I know that effective learning involves
adequate sleeping. Indeed, sleeping is necessary for our brain to analyze, stabilize, strengthen
memories and even engages to problem solving. Without maintaining a healthy sleeping pattern,
our brain cannot perform those activities that will lead to distortion or forgetting of memory.

Das könnte Ihnen auch gefallen