Sleeping and Dreaming

How often do you wonder why one needs to sleep and what is the meaning of one's dreams? Although we sleep roughly a third of our lives, scientists have not discovered the full extent of sleep's functions and mechanisms. And dreams are an even more complex matter altogether.
The Wellcome Collection in London organized an exhibition that tries to uncover some of the mysteries behind sleep. Set up in five distinct parts, it looks at sleep deprivation, sleep disorders, dreaming, elusive sleep (and drugs that put people to bed or keep them awake) and sleep biorhythms. Or something like that. It combines historical documents, scientific material, multimedia, films, archive recordings, art.
We go through some of the world record setters at staying awake. A funny film made in the 60's in Prague shows a few subjects that managed to stay awake for about 5 days in a row. By the last one, they were hallucinating and quite irritable (one was sleeping hanging from a door, he was that tired). The ultimate record set by a guy in the 60's again was about 201 hours with the help of stimulants. Don't try it at home, it will cause havoc in your life!
A very sad case of a guy with a rare genetic disease who stayed awake for 6 months (he just could not fall asleep, his brain would not switch to sleep state even when the man appeared to be dozing off) and then died.
Some amusing films include patients who are sleepwalkers, eaters and talkers.
I also took a test to check out my natural circadian rhythm, athough I know I am the owl and not the lark (try to awake me early in the morning and you will know the true meaning of nightmare). Fantastic stuff!
Check it out until March!