Why do we need so much sleep? We spend 1/3 of our lives asleep, yet we still do not know the primary reason for sleep. What I know is that sleep allows our body to repair and recharge. Think of sleep as our body's daily tune up. Without that daily tune-up, our bodies and minds will begin to malfunction. I came across a great article on bigthink.com that discuss the mysterious topic that is sleep. The article presents an experiment by Columbia neuropsychologist Yaakov Stern. In his experiment, Stern and his crew concluded that the areas of the brain that were affected by sleep deprivation could be stimulated to preform at higher levels when stimulated. Although this does not answer why we need sleep, it certainly provides hope for a mild cure of sleep deprivation. The article continues to discuss dreams and includes a video clip of sleep psychologist, Shelby Harris. Harris concludes that "dreams are the brain's method of sorting memories and experiences from the previous day, deciding which ones to retain and which ones to discard".
http://bigthink.com/ideas/23035
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