Spring Cleaning the Brain

“A healthy self-love means we have no compulsion to justify to ourselves or others why we take vacations, why we sleep late, why we buy new shoes, why we spoil ourselves from time to time. We feel comfortable doing things which add quality and beauty to life.” -Andrew Matthews

Many of us have been spring cleaning for weeks now, getting our gardens in order and the clothes in our closets swapped over for warmer weather.    Spring cleaning is a lot of work, but essential for clearing out the old and making room for the new and keeping us somewhat uncluttered and sane.  

You may be surprised to learn that your brain requires regular "spring cleaning" sessions too.   Scientists have been studying the effects of sleep on the brains of fruit flies and have determined that the brain uses our sleep time to get a much needed break from producing synapses all day long.  When you sleep, the brain is effectively clearing out all the non-essential data it collected during your previous waking hours.

First I am amazed that they chose fruit fly brains for these studies - I was unaware that fruit flies had brains that are similar to humans.  (scary, sci-fi movie plot if you ask me), and second I am fascinated by the idea that this very important work that helps improve memory and increase capacity for learning happens with little effort on our part.  

My self care goal for this week is to adhere to my 9:30pm bedtime each night.   I will keep you posted on how that goes.