Did you sleep last night? Or did you toss and turn the night away? Or maybe it was school work that kept you up, or cramming for a final. Or maybe you just threw the most epic party the numismatics club had ever seen. Whatever kept you up last night, it didn't do your brain any favors. Turns out the brain goes full-zombie on itself if it doesn't get enough sleep.
THE BRAIN DRAIN
We've already told you sleeping is how your brain tidies up, clipping away unnecessary memories to make room for the next day's events. But surprisingly, not getting enough sleep doesn't prevent that trim from occurring. It takes the brakes off it. Astrocytes are the brain cells responsible for that clean-up, and a team of researchers from Italy's Marche Polytechnic University found that when their mice were deprived of sleep, their astrocytes went into overdrive.
Some mice were given a nightly eight hours of sleep, and some were periodically interrupted to keep them from snoozing too deeply. Some were kept awake for an entire night, and some poor little rodents were forced to stay up five nights straight. The less the mice slept, the more active their astrocytes became. What's more, the astrocytes in the good-sleep and interrupted-sleep mice stuck to the business of eating brain waste, those in the sleep-deprived category ate parts of working synapses instead. No wonder they say driving without sleep is as bad as driving drunk.
THE LONG-TERM DAMAGE
Your brain eating itself is pretty bad news. That kind of damage can lead to some serious problems in the long run. This activity might be a key explanation for diseases like Alzheimer's, which has already been linked with highly active microglial cells — the same type of cells as astrocytes. As a matter of fact, a lack of sleep is strongly associated with the disease as well. If that's not a good enough reason to practice good sleep hygiene, we don't know what is. Here's a quick primer on healthy sleep habits to help you beat insomnia:
• Limit your naps to 30 minutes. Who doesn't love naps? But they don't take the place of a good night's sleep, and might get in the way of one.
• Get some exercise. You don't want to get yourself too energized right before bed. But sometime during the day, try to work up a sweat.
• Enjoy natural light. Exposure to sunlight during the day and darkness at night regulates your body clock and gets you sleepy on schedule.
• Cut out the screens. Try putting down the phone, stepping away from the computer, and leaving the TV off an hour before bed. It could do wonders.
Source --> http://www.curiosity.com
Hi! I am a robot. I just upvoted you! I found similar content that readers might be interested in:
http://luxlyfe.net/artikull/1253.html
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
what's the source of some of this info?
i went to wikipedia to look up what astrocytes were https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrocyte but it didn't directly mention that they go around eating brain cells created in association with a memory.
anyway, i'm just wondering what your own personal thoughts on this are?
like if sleep deprivation destroys memory by activating the astrocytes how do you take into account everyone's individual sleep needs. some people naturally only sleep like 3 hours a day where others need like 6 or 8. so are those 3 hour people getting mentally destroyed quicker than the 8 hour people?
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Thanks for asking.
Check out -> https://www.sciencealert.com/the-brain-literally-starts-eating-itself-when-it-doesn-t-get-enough-sleep for better explanation.
Try thinking of it like the garbage being cleared out while you're asleep, versus someone coming into your house after several sleepless nights and indiscriminately tossing out your television, fridge, and family dog.
Like the cells elsewhere in your body, the neurons in your brain are being constantly refreshed by two different types of glial cell - support cells that are often called the glue of the nervous system.
The microglial cells are responsible for clearing out old and worn out cells via a process called phagocytosis - meaning "to devour" in Greek.
The astrocytes' job is to prune unnecessary synapses (connections) in the brain to refresh and reshape its wiring.
We've known that this process occurs when we sleep to clear away the neurological wear and tear of the day, but now it appears that the same thing happens when we start to lose sleep.
But rather than being a good thing, the brain goes overboard with the clearing, and starts to harm itself instead.
As to your question -->
So are those 3 hour people getting mentally destroyed quicker than the 8 hour people?
My Answer: - Yes, the astrocytes are more active in their case than those having 8 hours of sleep.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
at what point do you think the reverse is true?
if an 8hr sleep person is better off than a 3hr person, would this not mean that someone who slept 20hrs be like so well off they live till 150 or something with a sharp mind? at the same time if they're sleeping 20hrs, even though they're living longer are they really "living" and is that extra sharpness and clarity worth the lack of activity and life they've actually experienced.
idk, personally i've never really partied much or done a lot of drugs or drank or hung out with vast groups of folks in an attempt to "protect" myself from damage or destructive behavior. but at this point i'm beginning to wonder, would it not have actually been better to have let it go and "lived" and if i die sooner or get older (in mind) quicker it's still actually more worth having sit around living more cautiously?!
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit