Sleep Deprived No More
January 3, 2008 by Kristina Chew, PhD
Filed under Health
Researchers reverse effects of sleep deprivation notes today’s Science Daily:
Orexin-A, also known as hypocretin-1, is a naturally occurring peptide produced in the brain that regulates sleep. It’s secreted by a small number of neurons but affects many brain regions during the day and people who have normal amounts of orexin-A are able to maintain wakefulness. When people or animals are sleep-deprived, the brain attempts to produce more orexin-A, but often without enough success to achieve alertness past the normal day-night cycle.
By administering “orexin-A either intravenously or via a nasal spray immediately prior to testing” to sleep-deprived monkeys, researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine found that the monkeys’ cognitive skills “improved to the normal, non-sleep-deprived, level.” The monkeys had been kept awake for 30-36 hours with “videos, music, treats and interaction with technicians.” (Charlie has a good sleep schedule now, but for a time he could stay awake long into the night without any of those four items.)
But what might a parent do with a few less hours of sleep………or if she could pull an all-nighter and actually get everything done…….
Great. One more thing for my fellow college students to abuse when they need to cram for a test.
I know! I’ve considered it…
Coffee in droves is bad enough!
I wonder how the monkeys felt overall?
Usually I figure that my body is telling me what I really need to know, and the last couple of years I have become really dysfunctional if I get less than 8, even when necessary to do so, so this sounds interesting. One concern that I have is that our society seems to be geared towards causing folks to live on a sleep-deprived schedule, so I’m not sure how I feel about developments that might encourage it. Alternatively, it was helpful during situations where you just can’t help being sleep-deprived, but also have to be cognitively with it, that could be positive.
Keeping the monkeys up smacked of, well, something not exactly “humane.” I still remember how, in college, when I was up all night, there’d be a moment of feeling absolutely exhausted (maybe 2-3 am) and then a sort of euphoria and intense energy and focus a few hours later. And then a big crash by 3 in the afternoon—I’ve probably reflected on this more than I might when standing opposite rows of very sleepy students (my classes are all in the morning). I don’t think that, ultimately, encouraging less sleep is good—-the period when Charlie was regularly going to sleep at 12 midnight or 1am, or falling asleep at 10pm and waking at 3am, led me to a new appreciation of sleep for sure.
Hmmmm…there was a day when I would have signed on for that stuff. Maizie has had major sleep issues until just the last couple of years. I think caring for several babies at a time would have been easier.
It’s just not clear to me what this would do. I mean, it reverses the effects, but does it really help in the overall of giving the individual efficient energy? I doubt it. I’ll look with interest, though.
Cliff
I’m not so sure about energy—what state were those still-awake monkeys in after the experiment, one has to wonder.