Neuroscientists are studying the boundary between sleep and awareness, discovering various liminal states that help explain sleep disorders resulting from faulty sleep transitions.
As one drifts off to sleep, the brain enters a state characterized by vivid imagery, such as shadows and light dancing across the vision, and surreal scenarios, like a cat sniffing cheese, despite the absence of such stimuli in reality.
You’ve started your journey into sleep, the cryptic state that you and most other animals need in some form to survive.
Sleep plays a crucial role in refreshing the brain and body, involving processes like tissue repair, toxin clearance, and memory consolidation, although the underlying mechanisms are not yet fully understood.
Author's summary: Exploring the transition from wakefulness to sleep.