Why do people recognize the bed?

Some people recognize the bed because the human brain protects themselves subconsciously. Many people who usually sleep well are not used to sleeping in the "new" bed, tossing and turning, and they can't sleep when they go to other places for business, tourism or visiting relatives and friends at night. People in China usually call this phenomenon "bed recognition". There is some truth in this statement. In the field of sleep research, there is another term for this "recognition of bed", that is, the first night effect. In other words, our behavior of "recognizing the bed" can be scientifically explained.

in fact, only half of us can fall into a deep sleep in a strange place. The other half will have what we call the "first night effect", and our brains will "stay alert" to protect our own safety from unpredictable potential threats. But now is a harmonious society, what's the use of this protection mechanism? On the contrary, the other half of the "bed watchers" will have low sleep efficiency. In fact, there is no need to worry too much. Generally speaking, the protection mechanism produced by this "first night effect" only appears on the first day. Even if we are an observer in bed, we can enter a deep sleep stage after being familiar with the night.

when we sleep, our brains go through a series of sleep stages. At this stage, our brain produces slow and synchronous fluctuations, and our body recovers at this stage, because protein's synthesis and growth hormone also help us recover and grow. In addition, the glucose level in our brain will be replenished at this time, and deep sleep is also very important to consolidate our memory. We first spend more time in deep sleep, and then go into shallow rem sleep. In the rapid eye movement stage, we sleep shallower and dream more easily.

This study also failed to test whether the "first night effect" is effective for frequent travelers every time. Some people who seriously "recognize the bed" may not be able to sleep at night during the whole business trip, and their energy and physical strength can't keep up with each other, thus greatly reducing the work effect.