We all know that once vacation ends, going to sleep before the clock reads A.M. is a significant feat. Whether it comes down to re-memorizing the last ten terms for the test or rushing to submit a paper before the deadline, the to-do list before bedtime is often long and unending. While this may be the reality, it is important to learn the ramifications of insufficient sleep. The list ranges from exhaustion during the next day to a higher chance of developing Alzheimer’s later in life.
1. Sleep strengthens memory. That’s right. Instead of memorizing those equations an extra three times, it may be more beneficial to sleep an extra 20 minutes. According to Dr. Rapoport, an associate professor at NYU Langone Medical Center, the brain strengthens previous memories while one is sleeping. This process is called consolidation. The three stages of memory consolidation called stabilization, enhancement, and integration are all strengthened by sleep through different cascades that take place in the brain on an intracellular to macromolecular level.
2. Sleep decreases inflammation. Uncontrolled inflammation is linked to serious diseases such as stroke, heart disease, arthritis, and diabetes. A study done by the Morehouse-Emory Partnership to Eliminate Cardiovascular Health Disparities demonstrated this. IL-6, fibrinogen and C-Reactive protein (a protein strongly linked to heart disease) levels were found to be higher in people who accounted for sleeping six hours or less at night.
3. Sleep increases athletic ability. If you are on any kind of sports team, then read this carefully. A study was conducted by Stanford University in 2011 which required 11 members of the Stanford basketball team to sleep at least ten hours a night over a five to seven week period. Interestingly, after this increased sleeping period, free-throw shooting accuracy by players who participated in the study increased by nine percent, and three point field goal accuracy increased by 9.5 percent.
4. Sleep allows weight loss to occur. Research published by the University of Chicago in 2010 tested this theory. Levels of ghrelin, a hormone that triggers hunger and reduces the amount of energy used in metabolic activities, was raised in dieters whose sleep was restricted. Also, in the same study, when dieters cut back on their sleep, only one quarter of their weight loss came from fat loss. According to Plamen Penev, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Chicago, “If your goal is to lose fat, skipping sleep is like poking sticks in your bicycle wheels, Cutting back on sleep, a behavior that is ubiquitous in modern society, appears to compromise efforts to lose fat through dieting. In our study it reduced fat loss by 55 percent.”
5. Sleep increases brain cell replenishment. New research published in the Journal of Neuroscience by Dr. Chiara Cirelli and colleagues from the University of Wisconsin indicate that myelin, a substance that insulates and speeds up nerve and brain cells, is produced at high levels during sleep. Immature oligodendrocytes, the cells that produce myelin, were found doubly in mice that slept as opposed to mice that did not sleep. In fact, the genes that cause apoptosis, or cell death, were activated in the mice that were forced to stay awake. Research is now being done to discover if there is a strong link between loss of sleep and the symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis, a disease that targets myelin throughout the central nervous system.
6. Sleep “cleans up” the brain. In a recent issue of Science, a research team from the University of Rochester discusses this phenomenon. Similar to the lymphatic system, which clears infection and pathogens from our bodies, the glymphatic system detoxes the brain from certain waste products that can cause serious neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s disease. Research administered by the University of Rochester showed that in mice, the glymphatic system is nearly ten times more active while sleeping than while awake. Additionally, they found that the sleeping brain removed a far larger amount of amyloid-beta, a toxic protein strongly associated with Alzheimer’s disease, than an awake brain. Another interesting discovery from the University of Rochester team is that brain cells shrink 60 percent while one is sleeping, creating more room for toxins to be flushed away.
While trying to get a full night’s sleep every night may be an impossible demand, everyone should realize that sleeping is more biologically beneficial and imperative than simply not feeling tired the next day. For the upcoming semester, realize that more sleep will increase your ability to succeed!