Sleep Deprivation and the Brain

I’m sure almost everyone has experienced the effects of sleep loss. Irritability, lack of focus, and mood swings are all fairly common symptoms of sleep deprivation. However, most of us don’t take these symptoms very seriously. We either drink a cup of coffee or simply brush them off. After all, they only seem like minor annoyances, rather than major threats to our health.

But as it turns out, my parents’ dire warnings about the consequences of sleep deprivation might have been right after all. Research has shown that when mice went for 3 days with only 4-5 hours of sleep, they lost 25% of their brain cells in parts of the brain stem. The scientists also found that this damage was irreversible.

Obviously, since the study was performed on mice and not humans, we don’t know how exactly it might apply to us. However, there is a fairly likely chance that we could be experiencing similar effects, given how strong the results of the survey were.

Reading through the study, left me wondering how the majority of high school students even had enough brain capacity left to make it through the day. The areas affected are those involved in fairly important brain functions, such as mood regulation and attention. This fits in with the common effects of sleep loss, as I know I always feel far grumpier and pay way less attention when I’ve had a less than ideal amount of sleep. It seems that the annoyances that may be taken for granted are actually signs of a much more serious problem.

Learning about such extreme side effects gave me the urge to take a long, long nap, but unfortunately it seems like that wouldn’t do much good. The damage done to the brain is thought to be permanent, meaning that if you only sleep for 4 hours a night during the week but then spend the entire weekend snoozing, you won’t actually be “caught up” on your sleep. The impact will still be felt on your brain, even if you feel far more refreshed afterwards.

Even the cells which do manage to survive might not escape unscathed. Another study from the United Kingdom revealed that scientists found that losing sleep for a week changed how more than 700 genes were encoded. The normal balance of the genes were thrown off, wreaking havoc on the processes they were supposed to regulate.

These genes were linked to stress management, as well as immune system functioning. It really seems like biology is just being cruel at this point, as more stress and a malfunctioning immune system are just about the worst-case scenarios at this point in time. And the effect that sleep can have on the immune system is so great that working the night shift has been identified as a probable carcinogen.

At this point, it seems that researchers could probably just assume that sleep loss is at least a partial factor in most of humanity’s health issues. The amount of data collected on the dangers of sleep deprivation is frightening. Things that we too often brush off may be causing lasting consequences for our brains and bodies.

One takeaway from this research seems to be that if we think that something is more important than sleep, we’re wrong. Without sleep, we cannot expect our bodies to function properly and manage our busy workloads. A good night’s rest may truly be the most important part of the day.