Why do humans “waste” a third time of their lives sleeping?

Getting enough quality sleep helps protect physical and mental health.

Here’s what happens to your body and brain if you skip too much sleep:

Sleep disturbance may impair the healing of injuries, and can contribute to the development and maintenance of chronic pain.

Sleep increases chromosome dynamics that clear out DNA damage accumulated during waking hours.

"It's like the accumulation of potholes in the road. It is most convenient and efficient to fix them at night, when there is light traffic."

Prof. Lior Appelbaum, of Bar-Ilan University's Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences and Gonda (Goldschmied) Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center.