May 30, 2021

The effect of lack of sleep on the brain and associated problems

 Getting enough quality sleep at the right time is just as important as water and food for survival because without sleep you cannot shape or maintain your brain pathways, and it is completely normal to aspire to good sleep and the kind that relaxes and energizes you because, in fact, getting Good sleep is as important to your health and brain health as exercising and eating healthy food.


Getting enough sleep and with adequate quality improves attention, behavior, memory, and the general state of our mental and physical health. It also helps the body maintain and regulate many vital functions, so come with us to learn about the effect of lack of sleep on the brain:



The effect of lack of sleep on the brain.

Lack of sleep is linked to a series of negative impacts on an individual's health, social life, performance, and ability to carry out daily chores that can affect his personal and professional life.

Sleep affects nearly every tissue and system in the body, from the brain, heart, and lungs to metabolism, immune system function, mood, and disease resistance.

 



The effect of sleep on the brain to fix information in memory.

One of the main functions of sleep is to help boost long-term memory which appears to not only strengthen specific nerve connections but also by clipping unwanted connections.

The brain makes a lot of connections throughout the day but not all of them are worth staying in the brain so sleep is a good time for the brain to identify the connections it needs.

Most people have probably seen this phenomenon in which sleep helps us remember what we learned during the day, and studies have confirmed this, as the presence of brain pathways allows you to enter new information into the brain, focus quickly, and respond quickly. Therefore, sleep is important for a number of brain functions, including how neurons communicate.

A new study has shown that when negative emotional memories are formed during sleep, they are less likely to be suppressed, which means that bad memories, as well as good memories, are more likely to remain in the brain and less likely to be forgotten.

Eliminate toxins during sleep, including those associated with Alzheimer's disease
One of the most illuminating discoveries  In recent years has been that the brain expels toxins faster during sleep.

Recent results show that sleep plays  an important role as it cleans the brain of toxins and prepares the person to wake up actively as the brain's lymphatic system opens at night and removes toxins during sleep.

Also, during sleep, the space between the brain cells expand greatly, making it easier to remove waste products through the cerebrospinal fluid, and perhaps most surprisingly, most of these wastes are amyloid protein, a precursor to Alzheimer's disease platelets.


The importance of adequate sleep in cognition.


Scientific studies indicate that sleep deprivation affects our cognitive abilities. Fortunately, there are many studies on this topic where sleep deprivation can affect everything from perception to decision-making.

We know that sleep is essential for cortical function and its most important function is multitasking, and sleep deprivation definitely affects a person's ability to do many things.

Driving is the most sensitive multi-tasking activity that we do use our hands and feet, our eyesight, our awareness of what is happening, and when you don't have enough time to sleep and not enough sleep, it greatly affects your ability to do many things. This is why we have a a lot of car accidents and of course trains, or In a clear sense, "sleep deprivation damages your executive function."

It has also been shown that sleep deprivation has a negative impact on cognitive functions such as attention and working memory. One study showed the importance of getting enough sleep in a way in which a small amount of sleep deprivation (two hours of sleep every night for 14 nights) leads to poor performance in Some neurobehavioral tasks, including attention, short-term memory, and perception.



The relationship between the importance of adequate sleep and creativity


It is a good idea to explore the importance of getting enough sleep when it comes to creativity and it seems that sleep brings creativity and its deficiency kill creativity.

When people lack sleep, certain types of thoughts are affected more than others, for example, It appears that divergent thinking is the first thing to go away when a person lacks sleep, yet even with a lack of sleep, convergent thinking is still able to recognize the correct answer because it is in tests. Standardized answers to questions related to convergent thinking remains the same.

 

a study:

In one research study, participants were deprived of sleep for 32 hours and different aspects of their thinking were tested. People who were deprived of sleep for 32 hours performed significantly worse in most forms of divergent thinking, including rhetoric, flexibility and initiative and they tended to insist on taking memory tests Verbal to pass the same answers over and over again.

This behavior is a sign that the creative mind has not been activated well as adequate sleep appears to boost creativity.

Another study forced participants to learn something about numbers - that is, people had to identify a subtle pattern in the questions. Night sleepers were more successful at understanding this than people who were sleep-deprived.

 

 



Lack of sleep is linked to depression

Sleep problems and depression are closely related as people with depression often have difficulty sleeping or, conversely, may sleep a lot.

Lack of sleep, even if it does not cause depression certainly appears to make it worse. Studies have shown:

People who sleep less than six hours a night or more than eight hours a night are more likely to develop depression than people who get enough sleep.
And people who suffer from insomnia are more likely to have depression and anxiety.
Part of the explanation of these connections may be due to the fact that the part of the brain that controls the circadian rhythm (the sleep-wake cycle, and all body functions that depend on it) may be disrupted in people with depression.

To prevent depression, you must know the importance of getting enough sleep and the effect sleep has on your brain.



How do you know that your brain and your body need sleep?


Here are several signs or indicators telling you that your body or brain and mind need more sleep:

Your mood fluctuates for no reason:
The sleep-deprived person is more prone to mood swings or irritability and has trouble coping with stress.

Weight gain:
Getting less than six hours of sleep at night can increase the production of the appetite-stimulating hormone ghrelin, which leads to cravings for sugary or fatty foods.


You feel more impulsive:
Lack of sleep lowers inhibitions and makes you act or speak without thinking or balancing the importance of your words or actions.


Slow your reactions:
When we are tired, we need more time to think and thus to respond because our ability to focus decreases.

Decrease in your productivity and energy:
Fatigue can interfere with your ability to focus, mind, and even find words to describe simple things or do the least simple tasks.


Lack of interest in your partner:
You have little or no interest in sex because when you are tired or exhausted, you usually don't have the drive or energy to have meaningful conversations, gentle gestures, or interest in your partner at the end of the day.

You have memory lapses:
Tiredness prevents you from focusing enough on things for you to remember.

You have difficulty making decisions:
Chronic sleep deprivation can reduce the brain's ability to process information and emotions, and decode social situations.


You are often sick:
The immune system is weakened by not getting enough sleep, which reduces the body's ability to fight viruses.

Your appearance suggests that you are suffering:
Not getting enough sleep tires the skin and the skin because sleeping for a short and insufficient period does not give the skin enough time to regenerate and make you look older in addition to your eyes surrounded by dark circles and swelling from lack of sleep.


What are the tips for maintaining healthy sleep habits?


Your life may seem constantly busy, and your sleep habits, the environment surrounding you, and your quality of life may be less than ideal, but do not lose hope because there are many ways to improve comfort and sleep by incorporating some of these tips into your daily routine to enjoy a quiet sleep and relieve your brain from the hassle and fatigue as a result :

Develop a relaxation ritual before bed:
By doing things that promote relaxation and that will ease some daily stress before going to bed and relax your body and brain, such as taking a hot shower or doing breathing exercises, over time these rituals will act as a signal to your mind that it is time to sleep.


Adopt a lifestyle that allows you to sleep around the same time every night:
Set an alarm, have your meals on time, and go to bed at the same time, even on weekends.


Use your bed only to sleep:
Keep all electronic devices and food away from your room, and keep any stimulating activities in a room other than the bedroom because preparing the bed for sleep will indicate that it is time to get ready for bed and not eat, read, watch TV, play video games, study or chat on the phone and try because You sleep in your bed, not on the sofa.

Remove any electronic device from your room:
The activities associated with televisions, computers, tablets, phones, and other digital devices, as well as the light they emit and the stimuli they provide, make them a major barrier to sleep, so keep electronic devices out of your bedroom and turn them off at least an hour before bedtime.

Make your bedroom quiet, dark, and cool:

Turn off light and sound, and keep your bedroom at a constant temperature to get the best conditions for sleep.


Avoid consuming caffeine or other stimulants.
A few hours before going to bed, stop taking stimulants and monitor your caffeine intake. Remember that tea and coffee aren't the only drinks that contain caffeine - many soft drinks, chocolate, and some medicines and herbal remedies also contain them.

 Do some exercises:

Regular exercise (30 to 60 minutes, 3 times a week) is well known for its effective role in relieving stress, and people who exercise regularly get better, deeper sleep, and overall better health.

But be careful because exercise restores energy so you should stop exercising at least 3 hours before bed.

Determine the length of your nap:

If it is necessary to take a nap during the day to ease the fatigue of work, make sure that it does not exceed fifteen to thirty minutes.

Avoid sleeping on a full or empty stomach:

Healthy and balanced meals during the day regulate blood sugar levels and prepare the body for optimal rest. So if you feel hungry in the evening, eat a light but nutritious meal so as not to overload your stomach or give you a lot of energy that prevents you from sleeping.



The serious health risks associated with lack of sleep


Lack of restful and comfortable sleep reduces life expectancy over time, as several studies have shown that less than five hours of sleep each night increases the risk of death by up to 15%.

With a life full of social life, work, or other obligations that interfere with sleep hours, many ignore the potential consequences of such deprivation as lack of sleep can affect the brain and have the following mental and physical effects:

  • Having Alzheimer's disease.
  • Cardiovascular disease.
  • Impaired immune system function.
  • Depression and depression.
  • Having diabetes.
  • Hypertension.
  • overweight.
  • Susceptibility to disease.
To live a healthy and balanced life, you must make sure to make sleep a priority in your life, because lack of sleep can make you mentally and physically ill, so be aware of the symptoms of lack of sleep and work actively every night to prepare for a good sleep.


in conclusion

Scientists are still studying the effect of sleep function on the brain and the main focus of research is to understand the risks involved in getting sleep, the relationship between sleep and disease, and the connection of poor sleep with disorders of the nervous system and brain and related diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's.


Many of the secrets about the relationship between sleep and health problems are still unknown, so sleep is a very important part of a full, healthy, and balanced life, and most of us should get more sleep and enjoy the benefits it provides so try to adopt new sleep strategies and reduce exhaustion and fatigue on your body and brain by Improve the quality of your sleep.

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