Little sleep at night causes you to space out the next day. According to a study, lack of sleep disturbs the communication between brain cells; thereby, affecting memory and perception. Prior researches have established a connection between sleep to disruption in the performance of the brain. Lack of sleep might be the cause of some psychological issues faced on a day-to-day basis. You may find yourself forgetting the keys or experience some serious issues like zoning out while driving.
If you are sleep deprived, your neurons may not be able to function as effectively as they do under normal conditions. This alters the perception and reaction to various events. These effects were observed by Dr. Itzhak Fried, professor at University of California.
The effects of lack of sleep on brain are comparable to drinking too much. But sadly, there are no established medical or legal guidelines to identify sleep-deprived drivers as in the case of drunk drivers.
In this study, there were 12 epilepsy patients in whom electrodes were planted in the brain to study seizures. They were not allowed to sleep the entire night so that seizures could be provoked.
The subjects were then asked to describe some images as quickly as they could. The task became more difficult as they became more sleepy.
Usually, the neurons fire rapidly, but due to sleep deprivation, the neurons fired weakly and messages were transmitted slowly through the same. Brainwaves also slowed down.
This study was published in the journal Nature Medicine. According to researchers, lack of sleep can be dangerous. This research also linked sleep deprivation to various diseases like heart attack, depression and obesity.
The research was funded by the U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and stroke.
Source: drugs.com