Scientists find small regions of the brain can take micro-naps while the rest of the brain is awake and vice versa

Hengen’s artistic interpretation of the varied brain wave patterns that produce the fundamental states of sleep and wake. Credit: Keith Hengen Sleep and wake: They’re totally distinct states of being that define the boundaries of our daily lives. For years, scientists have measured the difference between these instinctual brain processes by observing brain waves, with sleep characteristically defined by slow, long-lasting waves measured in tenths of seconds that travel across the whole organ. For the first time, scientists have found that sleep can be detected by patterns of neuronal activity just milliseconds long, 1,000 times shorter than a second, revealing Read More