In the words of the acclaimed writer JoJo Jensen, “Without enough sleep, we all become tall two-year-olds.” Many scientists have pondered the question of why sleep is of such vital importance. From an evolutionary perspective, it would be ideal if we could survive without sleep. After all, shut-eye leaves animals, including humans, vulnerable to predation. If you travel quite frequently, you’ve probably succumbed to “first night effect,” or FNE. In simple terms, this means that many humans tend to have a difficult time sleeping during the first night in a new place. According to numerous evolutionary theorists, this reveals something interesting about the ways in which our brains function. FNE, they argue, is an evolutionary remnant rooted in our brains’ hardwired self-defense mechanisms. We sleep with “one eye open,” quite literally. It’s known as the unihemispheric effect. In new environments, we employ a 50/50 sleep...(Read Full Article)