We humans spend about one-third of our lives asleep. This may sound like a lot of time, but it is not wasted. Sleep helps us stay healthy, but it also helps our brains remember. Our brains need good sleep to remember what we do and learn during the other two thirds of our lives when we are awake. Besides keeping us healthy, some new research shows that a good night’s sleep helps make us more intelligent. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin - Madison have found that sleep helps improve brain performance by shrinking synapses in the brain. A synapse is the area where cells pass messages to other cells.