Scientists Make Major Discovery While Studying The Brain On No Sleep

This study lends more evidence that circadian misalignment (due to shift work, for example) can deteriorate sleep quality, and thus interfere with other parts of our health, Maquet explained. What’s more, the new research may lead to new ways to better diagnose sleep disorders, Charles Czeisler, chief of the division of sleep and circadian disorders at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, told HuffPost. Sleep disorders can be difficult to discern from other disorders that share the same symptoms, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, he said. “[The study] opens up a new era in the quantitative assessment of sleep-wake neurobiology,” Czeisler wrote in an editorial that was published alongside the new study in the journal Science. The research suggests there is a way to actually measure the deterioration in brain activity that’s associated with longer periods of being awake. “We might be able to investigate now if in certain conditions ― like sleep apnea ― is the brain more sluggish? Are certain areas of the brain more affected?” Czeisler said. Unfortunately for procrastinators everywhere, the new research sheds no light on the how to stay up all night and not suffer the consequences the next day. Sarah DiGiulio is The Huffington Post’s sleep reporter. You can contact her at sarah.digiulio@huffingtonpost.com.   -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - Category: Science Source Type: news