The human brain needs sleep in order to replenish its energy reserves during periods of natural slumber, a new study suggests.Experts discovered there is an increase in cellular energy levels in initial stages of sleep in parts of the brain active during waking hours.The discovery, which appears in the journal Neuroscience, was published alongside the assertion it is hard to know exactly what processes are taking place during sleep.The study was put forward by Dr Radhika Basheer and D. Robert McCarley, of Boston VA Healthcare System and Harvard Medical School.Said Dr Basheer: "Our finding bears on one of the perennial conundrums in biology: the function of sleep."Somewhat surprisingly, there have been no modern-era studies of brain energy using the most sensitive measurements."Sleep Council spokesman Jessica Alexander recently said people need to shake off the stresses of everyday life before achieving proper rest.
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