Sleep is an important process that helps maintain our bodily and mental functions. However, sometimes life gets in the way of sleep. Whether it is working late, studying, or you just can’t sleep, sleep deprivation is going to take its toll. Some of the side effects of lack of sleep include memory loss, loss of cognitive function, suppressed immune system, and decreased reaction time to name a few. This means staying up late to study will mean you will remember less and your immune system suffers which leads to a cold or flu. Less sleep could also be dangerous if you are driving to work and your decreased reaction time causes an accident, hurting other people in the process.
Dr Daniel Cavanaugh, conducts his research in the subject of sleep to find the link to understanding the many consequences that result from sleep disorders. He also studies how the brain regulates sleep using the circadian rhythm as well as homeostatic drive. Cavanaugh et al.(2016) has shown that the control of sleep is bidirectional in terms of being controlled by both homeostatic and circadian rhythms. This was done by using sleep promoting neurons in Drosophila to perform experiments that assessed sleep change. They found that activating these sleep promoting neurons was more effective during the night or the middle of the day. This suggests that there is an effect on the sleep system by the time of day. At specific times of the day, the circadian system actively inhibits sleep which leads to the feeling that you are not tired. Cavanaugh also found that there is a homeostatic drive to sleep which usually occurs around sunset. This is your body’s cue that it is time to sleep. These two processes work together to maintain the body’s proper amount of sleep. I am sure everyone has experienced nights with less than 4 hours of sleep and even “pulling an all-nighter” to study for an exam. However, it is these things that contributes to the sleep deprivation.
Science daily recently showed that lack of sleep among our working population is costing our economy about $400 billion a year. This lack of sleep results in being late, missing work, and even working but not to the best of their ability. Sleep deprivation is seen to cause overall lower rates of productivity and raised mortality rates. These are situations in which working night shifts and shifts lasting longer than 12 hours can lead to dangerous situations involving vehicles, for example. It was also found that the US has the largest financial losses due to lack of sleep, followed by Japan. Not only could sleeping a full 8 hours every night help yourself to live a healthier life but it could help the U.S. save billions of dollars.
References:
RAND Corporation. (2016). Lack of sleep costing US economy up to $411 billion per year. ScienceDaily.
Cavanaugh, D., Vigderman, A., Dean, T., Garbe, D., Sehgal, A. (2016). The Drosophila Circadian clock gates sleep through time-of-day dependent modulation of sleep-promoting neurons. Sleep, 39, 345-356.
Pictures from: http://www.spring.org.uk/2014/01/10-most-awe-inspiring-neuroscience-studies.php; http://www.bbc.com/news/business-36641119
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