In the hotel we sleep … like dolphins!

Spending a night away from home means sleeping in a different bed than the usual one, for example, while staying in a hotel for a business trip or holiday.

This makes our “sleeping brains” same as to those of dolphins and certain birds. In fact, unlike what normally happens, it happens that one of the two cerebral hemispheres – the left – will enjoy a less sleep: in practice, it remains semi-awake and more sensitive to noises.

That is why, the next morning, often, you got the feeling of having slept badly.

Researchers from Brown University, in Providence – USA, carried out a study on the case and published the result in the journal Current Biology: “In humans, the phenomenon could have a similar importance to that it does in marine mammals and birds, which thus maintain a monitoring of the environment in the hours in which they would be most vulnerable to predators. “

The experiments involved 11 volunteers, who underwent neuroimaging techniques: thus, the brain activity of each was analyzed while sleeping for two days in an unusual place, therefore, different from the usual one.

It has been discovered that a specific ” protection ” mechanism is triggered in our brain, which has been defined as the ” effect of the first night ”.

Even if the degree of asymmetry in the activity of the two hemispheres is lower than that of marine mammals, the difference immediately jumped to the eye, surprising the researchers: all subjects presented the same condition, although more marked in those who, in addition to not having a good rest, also struggled to fall asleep.

The situation, however, got normalized from the second night on: it is truly unbelievable!