Your grandmother may have talked about her beauty sleep, but research indicates that rest does far more than stave off red eyes. Researchers have long reported that six to eight solid hours of lights out is critical for optimal brain functioning and a healthy immune system.
It's important, however, to note the quality of sleep, says Matthew Walker, director of the Sleep and Neuroimaging Lab at the University of California at Berkeley.
Passing out after a night of cocktails a la "Sex and the City," for example, may put you in a deep sleep, but there's a good chance you'll wake up suddenly in the early hours with a bout of insomnia, he says.
Habitually taking sleeping pills and painkillers is not such a great idea either, Walker adds. They may knock you out at bedtime, but the flat, dreamless sleep they often induce does not generally provide the healing and repair your mind and body craves.
"We tend to undervalue the importance of dreaming," says Walker, who is currently working on a book on the role dreams play in our mental health.
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