cleansing bath, and ensures “all systems go” in the various
regions of our infinitely complex brains. It’s no wonder we
intuitively know to “sleep on it” before making an important
decision.
A sleepless brain, on the other hand, is like marooning
your ships on the beach at low tide. New research even pegs
sleep loss as a toxin to your energy-creating mitochondria,
putting it in the same category as processed oils and sugar.^1
In one study published in the journal Sleep, a single night of
sleep deprivation in healthy human volunteers led to a 20
percent increase in two markers of neuronal injury,
suggesting that even one instance of acute sleep deprivation
may cause injury to your precious brain cells.^2
This is alarming news in light of the fact that half of
adults between twenty-five and fifty-five say they sleep
fewer than seven hours on weeknights.^3 And more than 50
percent of millennials have been kept awake at least one
night over the past month due to stress—a recent finding by
the American Psychological Association.^4
A SLEEPLESS BRAIN IS PRIMAL—AND NOT IN A
GOOD WAY
Ever had the sensation of “losing yourself” in a great movie,
book, or video game? What about a workout session, sex, or
playing your favorite instrument? We owe this incredible,
life-affirming sensation of complete immersion to a relative
disengagement of the prefrontal cortex. Located at the very