A new study suggests that the reason why we sleep is to forget some memories to store other memories for later use. Scientists have been trying to solve the mystery of why humans need to sleep for around one-third of a day.

This new research provides crucial clues about how our brain works and more importantly, how it stores and files information.

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In modern societies, our natural sleep cycle is disturbed by artificial light and less exposure to natural daylight, disrupting our circadian rhythm. Sleeping pills can help people fall into a groggy, sleepy state. However, this could still disrupt how the brain stores memories and data.

During this study conducted by researchers from Johns Hopkins University, mice were placed in an unfamiliar place and were administered mild electric shock. Some of them were given a drug that prevents the brain from fixing and filing memories during sleep, while the rest went to sleep naturally.

When the mice returned to the same place, they all remembered the electric shock, and they spent most of time inside motionless, as if fearing another electric shock. When they were placed in a different and unfamiliar area, the mice who had regular sleep hesitated for a bit but explored the area all the same.

However, the mice that were given the special drug appeared more frightened, even if they were in a completely different area.

Scientists say that this occurred because the drug disrupted a brain process known as "scaling down" which is an important process linked to forgetting and filing memories away.

According to Graham Diering, the director of JHU's Department of Neuroscience, the memory of the electric shock was still strong due to the disruptive effects of the drug on the mice' synapses, which prevented the scaling down process. This means that all of these memories remained strong, making the mice confused and not easily able to distinguish the two different areas.

Diering noted that this study also demonstrates that "sleeping on it" could provide more clarity on your thoughts and ideas. Without sleep and recalibrating of the brain during sleep, memories could be lost.

This new study is published in the journal Science.