Every time you go to sleep, your brain is taking care of business. While it may be time for your body to rest, your head has some serious chores to do.

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When you’re asleep, the neurons in your brain are firing just as often as when you’re awake (and using almost the same amount of energy). There must be something really important going on since all animals risk danger in order to sleep, from mammals to fish to the birds and the bees.

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Your brain is actually doing some pretty amazing things while you’re unconsciously sawing logs and swallowing eight spiders a year. The following are five incredible examples of why you need to drop everything and go to sleep right now….

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1. You need to detox

Brains need to clean house every now and then. Sleeping gives the brain time to clear out toxic molecules and make space between brain cells (kind of like defragging your PC and cleaning up disk space). You can’t operate at full speed if you aren’t getting the required amount of sleep you need – eventually, you’ll run out of room for “you”.

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2. You suck at bowling (and want to get better)

You’ve been seriously regretting joining a bowling league because your gutter balls show up more often than you do. Sleeping is actually more important for improving your game than practicing too much.

During REM sleep, your brain converts short-term motor memories into long-term muscle memories that make repetitive movements more automatic.

Basically, you’re actually practicing in your sleep, helping you permanently remember how to achieve that kickass strike, swing of a golf club, or perfectly-knitted sweater.