National Geographic

At the Children’s sleepclinic in Washington,Michael Bosak, eight,sleeps through his examin a position that helpsprevent the repeatednarrowing of the upperairway—the cause ofhis snoring. (This photowas taken in the darkwith an infrared cam-era so as not to disturbhim.) Sleep is crucialfor childhood healthand development;it’s when most growthhormone and infec-tion-fighting proteinsare released. Poor sleepin kids has been linkedto diabetes, obesity,and learning disabilities.The wakingbrain isoptimizedfor collectinginformation,the sleepingbrain forconsolidating.At night weswitch fromrecordingto editing.48