Hacking into Sleep to Enrich
Learning: Could Metabolic Disorders Contribute to Learning?
Angie Radek
In 2018,
students are constantly battling with sleep and eating poorly. Also, many
students are curious when the best time for sleep is, when is memory enduring,
when does memory consolidation happen, and what is happening on a neurological
level during sleep. Basically, sleep is popular and trending amongst today’s
generation. The mystery of these questions has been answered by Dr. Paller.
But, is sleep the only factor to enhance learning?
Dr. Paller
argues that practice is what makes memory enduring and that consolidation is
actually happening when an individual is sleeping because memories require deep
and elaborate encoding Additionally, Dr. Paller argues that the most important
stage of sleep to enhance learning is the slow- wave -sleep. Using TMR, Dr.
Paller’s research targeted if there is a way to improve spatial memory using
sounds. To do this, Paller had subjects learn, undergo a pre-sleep test, sleep
with TMR, and have a post-sleep test.
The research suggests
memories were reactivated by practicing within the hippocampus region. The
reason Dr. Paller was able to conclude this is because within declarative
memory, the hippocampus is working with the cortex. The cerebral cortex is for
different functions and is responsible for putting multiple memory fragments
together. Also, the hippocampus is quick and extensive for forming networks.
More
importantly, Dr. Paller argues that the slow- wave- sleep is essential for
enhancing learning because the findings suggest that hippocampal gamma
amplitudes are greater for TMR cues than for novel sounds. This means that
there is a gamma response and that the hippocampal is responding during sleep
and shows memory improvement in the cued conditions. Dr. Paller is not the only
one to justify the significance of the slow- wave -sleep stage. Other research
suggests that the slow oscillations during the slow-wave-sleep influences
memory consolidation and learning because the slow oscillations have
high-amplitude and synchronized EEG activity (Creery et. al, 2016). Thus, it is
evident that the slow-wave-sleep is essential for enhanced learning as Dr.
Paller argues and other researchers.
But, is it safe
to say that the slow-wave-sleep is the only contribution for enhancing learning?
Newer research suggests that there is measures of poor sleep quality in
children who have higher body mass index (American Association for Cancer
Research, 2018). The research found that shorter sleep duration was associated
with a higher BMI and that each additional hour of sleep was associated with a
.13 decrease in BMI score (American Association for Cancer Research, 2018). Additionally,
the researchers found that there was a more fragmented rest- activity rhythms
and an increased in variability of the frequency and extent of transitions
between sleep and activity (American Association for Cancer Research, 2018).
Due to this newer
research, obesity and metabolic disorders can be a unique contribution to
memory and enhancing learning because these metabolic disorders are potentially
disrupting the stages of sleep. If this is the case, then metabolic disorders
may be affecting the slow-wave-sleep, thus, affecting learning. If an
individual has a higher BMI and has more disrupted frequencies and shorter
sleep duration, this most likely is affecting the slow-wave-sleep and
disrupting the gamma response in the hippocampus. Not only this, if an
individual has a higher BMI, the cortex may not be working to its maximal at putting
multiple memory fragments together.
Ultimately,
sleep may be an important factor of enhancing learning, but it may not be the
only important factor. Metabolic disorders, for example obesity, should be
taken more seriously because it is clearly affecting the sleeping patterns of
individuals and could possibly be affecting learning and memory consolidation.
Should we actually be hacking into eating as a contribution to enhancing
learning and not just sleep?
Sources
No comments:
Post a Comment