Why do we get so rested on just 10 minutes of sleep and why do we get the opposite effect if we sleep for a longer time?
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I would equate this to exercising a muscle rigorously. As this progresses the muscle depletes its internal energy and oxygen stores. The muscle also takes damage from the strenuous effort. Similarly, while awake the brain consumes lots of oxygen and energy stores processing all the data it needs to from inputs like your eyes, ears, forebrain cognition. Taking a nap is simply like taking a short break from exercising. It reduces energy/oxygen consumption allowing the brain to recover stores. Full REM sleep is required to repair damage and flush the system similar to taking a couple days break from exercising to allow muscles to repair.
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