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Our talk about whether or not sleep is beneficial reminded me of a section of Jonah Lehrer's Proust Was a Neuroscientist. The book has received a lot of criticism for the leaps Lehrer makes between science and the arts, but I think Lehrer's aims apply well to what we are doing in this course. 

Lehrer talks about the role of sleep in the process of neurogenesis, which is the process of creating new neurons in the brain. Neurogenesis is a newly accepted observation among neuroscientists because it overrides the popularly held notion that our brains are fixed. Lehrer notes that neurogenesis is encouraged by sleep and suggests that our brains are a little different each time we wake up. 

Interestingly, neurogenesis studies that have been done have observed that neurogenesis is strongly linked to a positive mood. Neurogenesis, and the activities that promote it (learning, exposure to new things, sleeping), do the same work as an anti-depressent.

Sleeping too much versus not sleeping enough can profoundly effect a persons mood, which ultimately effects who they are as a person.  Why do we get grumpy when we are tired?  Conversely, why do people who are depressed sleep all the time?