I know I write about sleep a lot, really a lot, but I can't help myself. I am almost always sleep-deprived for a variety of reasons: jet lag, worries about work or my family, too much caffeine too late in the day, the noise from my upstairs neighbors.
Even in my normal less-than-alert state, I was intrigued by a new study from researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The researchers found that parts of our brain may fall asleep even when we think we are awake – leading us to make common mistakes like losing keys or forgetting where we parked the car.
Scientists used to think that the entire brain was either asleep or awake but the University of Wisconsin researchers say their experiments with brain imaging show that we may actually experience brief periods of "micro sleep" when parts of the brain go offline.
The study, in current issue of the journal Nature, explains so much to me. I am convinced this is why I find myself forgetting what I am looking for when I go to the store or why I can't remember where I put my bag.
At least, that's my story and I'm sticking to it – until I forget it.
