We have all had those nights. Stayed up to late or had to wake up extremely early. Not getting enough sleep can change your mood for the rest of the day. Have you ever wondered what happens to your brain when you loose sleep?
A study was conducted at the University of Surrey about this topic, published in the journal Science. Within this they studied the brains performance during the day, after not getting enough sleep at night. Also, they studied the symptoms of psychiatric and neurodegenerative conditions in the brain and wax and wane in the brain, to see if they leave an effect.
Researchers did this study on 33 people, who all had sleep deprivation over a two day period. They took brain scans of each brain and compared their brain activity levels and where the brain activity was happening in the brain. One place in the brain that a lot of activity was happening was the subcortical area, with a rhythmic period following after.
The brains being studied where found a reduced amount of activity in the brain after the recovery of sleep. Also, some of the brains studied were found had a rhythmic pattern of activity. One this that researchers found was that the effects of sleep deprivation were different to every brain being studied. This was made apparent when they were asked to preform a simple task, and all reacted different.
After looking at the brain scans taken, it showed melatonin rhythm in the brains. This acts as a circadian pacemaker, controlling sleep cycles. The responses to the circadian rhythm was different to most of the brains studied.
After this study was concluded, it can be seen that brain function is prominently influenced during its awake stages, and not when its sleep deprived. Because of the across the board, different responses to sleep deprivation in the brain, the brain mainly functions when its fully awake. Though this did not really show how the brain acts when sleep deprived, this showed researchers how the brain functions when awake. This also explained the activity of the brain and how certain symptoms effect that in the brain.
So what is the catch on this study. The brain responds differently when sleep deprived and the activity in the brain is different. So try to cuddle up, turn off the lights and get the amount of sleep recomended
source
http://www.healthline.com/health/sleep-deprivation/effects-on-body
^^^^ You could probably include this if you wanted to end the article proposing that people should get enough sleep at night
Hello,
I understand what you were trying to talk about throughout this post, I just feel like your study didn’t give enough points to back you up.
The study you explained is about 33 people who are all sleep deprived. I get that their brains had all type of different results but I have no placebo or control group to compare it to. Maybe if the study compared it to 20 people who got a good amount of sleep (over the 2 days), then we could see how the effects on the brain compare to people who get sleep to those who done.
You said that the effects of people who were sleep deprived was apparent. You said it was obvious but what does that prove? To me that information does not prove whether or not getting enough sleep is good for someone. So at the of the article when you state that we should get enough sleep, I don’t know why I should do so.
I feel like overall, maybe if you got another article to explain, there are a lot that cover this topic. Also, just expand more on what you are exactly trying to prove, or your hypothesis.