SLEEP: KNOW THE NATURAL IN-BUILT MECHANISM FOR SLEEP
To learn how to sleep, it is important to understand how sleep is controlled. Of course the brain has a lot to do with this. There are two levels of control in our sleeping activities, the higher control and the lower control.
The higher control
The cerebral cortex, the outermost layer of brain tissue, is the higher control centre. It is the thinking part, the part that determines what sort of IQ we have, what colour of emotion we experience—angry, sad, happy, jealous, frightened, etc.—and is the most influencial part of our mind. This can prevent us from falling asleep and is the major cause of insomnia.
The lower control
The sleep centre, which is at the base of the brain in the brain stem, is the lower control centre. It is the trigger to sleep. It is initially influenced by the higher control, but once sleep is triggered off the sleep centre had autonomy. The sleep centre is like other stations in the brain stem, which are responsible for the automatic everyday running of the body. One such station is the temperature centre that acts like a thermostat station, automatically regulating body temperature to around 37° C.
For the purpose of learning how to sleep, the relationship between the higher control (cerebral cortex) and the lower control (sleep centre) must be made clear. Many studies, including animal experiments, have attempted to demonstrate the existence of a sleep centre. The exact location of this is still controversial, although it is believed to be located somewhere in the brain stem.
I have selected a few animal experiments that may be helpful in establishing the model of how sleep is controlled. The following animal experiments were conducted to demonstrate that the higher control (the cerebral cortex) has an arousal effect on the lower control (the sleep centre):
(1) If the sleep centre is stimulated electrically, the animal goes into sleep.
(3) If a surgical cut is made in the mid-brain separating the connection between the cerebral cortex and the sleep centre, the animal goes into chronic sleep. Even if the cerebral cortex is now stimulated electrically, the sleep centre is no longer influenced and the sleeping animal cannot be aroused.
Hence the reason why we are sometimes awake for many hours in bed is that the thinking part of the brain—the cerebral cortex— is sending arousal messages to the sleep centre. The higher control has taken over and is preventing the sleep centre from switching into sleep; this is the commonest cause of insomnia.
To facilitate sleep we have to stop the cerebral cortex from sending arousal messages to the sleep centre, so that the latter can take over and trigger sleep. Arousal messages are uncontrolled thoughts. If we can learn how to control thoughts, we can shift from the waking mode to the transitional hypnotic state (THS) and consequently into sleep:
Waking mode → THS → Sleep mode
Transitional hypnotic state—THS
Chronic insomniacs are people who cannot shift from the waking mode to the THS. The cerebral cortex of the brain is too involved with uncontrolled thoughts and this prevents entry to the THS mode; hence the sleep centre cannot trigger sleep onset.
The THS was discussed in the previous chapter, and is the transitional state between waking and sleeping. This is an observed state in anyone falling asleep. However, this state can be artificially induced in ourselves when we are ready to fall asleep.
To enter the THS we must limit and control thought stimulation in the cerebral cortex. This is like making an imaginary surgical cut between the cerebral cortex and the sleep centre. Once we are in the THS, the level of arousal in the cerebral cortex will be minimal and the sleep centre will take over and trigger off natural sleep. This imaginary surgical cut involves the technique of thought control.
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