lack of sleep and brain damage

[abskebabs]

I have seen similiar posts about sleep, but none specifically addressing the following questions: How badly does a lack of sleep damage or kill brain cells? Also how in the long term, if you are sleeping for an insufficient number of hours(like 4-6), how long would this take to affect the brain in a serious way? I've found it really hard getting enough sleep recently, so I'd guess I'm just having premature worries about this.

[[Tycho?]]

...does lack of sleep actually kill braincells? I'd be skeptical that lack of sleep could cause you physical brain damage, regardless of how often it occured.

[Edtharan]

I don't know if lack of sleep kills brain cells, I do know that lack of slee can kill you. It can kill you faster that lack of food will (from what I have read).

 

Your brain does do more repair when you are asleep than when you are awake, but I don't know that it actually causes damage (I have not read or heard anything to that effect).

 

Different people need different amounts of sleep. Some can quite happily survive on 6 hours of sleep (but these are rare), although many would function better on more sleep.

 

As someone who has extremely erratic sleep due to chronic pain (I have had this for over 6 years due to an injury), I can say that you can operate on 4 hous of sleep for a few months, but you will definitely be opperating well below you ability (when I was like this I would not have felt comfortable driving due to the state I was in - even if my injury allowed me to). Lack of sleep can degrade your performance more than alchol can (and take longer to recover from). And I will admit that sometimes my posts on this forum can seem a little vague, and that is usually because I have not had much sleep in the few days previous.

[reor]

Lack of sleep draws heavily on resources. The brain is affected first, because of its sensitive structures and the fast consumption of nutrients. It starts consuming itself.

[Edtharan]

Lack of sleep draws heavily on resources. The brain is affected first, because of its sensitive structures and the fast consumption of nutrients. It starts consuming itself.

umm, no. Eating gives you nutrients, not sleeping. Blood carries the nutrients from your gut to the various organs of your body. Sleeping (or not) does not greatly effect the transportation of nutrients to the brain.

[Genecks]

Summarized:

 

The average amount of sleep required for a task depends on the individual and the task at hand.

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I've been told that soldiers in the U.S. military during the time of the Vietnam War would sleep an average duration of three hours while in training. Many people would commit suicide due to the lack of sleep and hard rigorous work. However, a person can function on low amounts of sleep, but he or she is recommended to stay away from hard labor or intensive thinking.

 

Sleep allows a person to recover physically and mentally. If a person doesn't recover physically or mentally, then he or she will not be fit enough to partake in an activity that takes full physical and mental awareness.

 

However, soldiers in the U.S. military obtain an average of six hours of sleep a day. The soldiers keep up this sleeping pattern for about 90 days or 9 weeks (I can't remember).

 

Lack of sleep disables someone from thinking clearly. Some people can function well on six hours of sleep. I can do well on six hours of sleep. On a test day, however, I need my full eight hours of sleep; the full eight enable me to think clearly about my next course of action.

[reor]

We had a related thread about this already. Even people who suffer sleepless sickness experience something called micro-sleep, and some people merge into a trance-like state to compensate the sleep deficiency.

 

umm, no. Eating gives you nutrients, not sleeping. Blood carries the nutrients from your gut to the various organs of your body. Sleeping (or not) does not greatly effect the transportation of nutrients to the brain.

What? Lack of sleep means stress which means higher nutrient consumption and accumulation of pollutants.

[zking786]

I'm unaware of any studies which suggest that lack of sleep can lead to brain damage. While many types of psychologists have investigated sleep, their results are far from conclusive. I am pretty sure that lack of sleep does NOT kill neurons.

[reor]

I can't prove either. But i'm wondering what causes symptoms similar to alcoholic influence, like cheerfulness, dazedness and hallucinations.

[bob000555]

When you don’t sleep you don’t actually lose brain cells they just don’t function as well as they would if you got adduct sleep, this is most likely because your brain need sleep to “rewire”(shift the connections between it’s neurons). Thos will most likely be corrected when you finally get adduct sleep.

[Edtharan]

What? Lack of sleep means stress which means higher nutrient consumption and accumulation of pollutants.

I never denied that it changed the rate, I just said that it wasn't a significant amount. And certainly not enought to cause brain damage (except maybe if you were already about to die of starvation, and even then the body would have sacrificed tissue like muscle first and you would die before you suffered brain damage from lack of nutrition).

[SorceressPol]

I never denied that it changed the rate, I just said that it wasn't a significant amount. And certainly not enought to cause brain damage (except maybe if you were already about to die of starvation, and even then the body would have sacrificed tissue like muscle first and you would die before you suffered brain damage from lack of nutrition).

 

Lack of sleep will cause brain damage if the body doesn't receive sleep after an extended period of time. You already know that the body heals itself mostly when it's sleeping. If the body can't heal itself day after day, the damages just keeps adding up. You won't die first. Your memory and cognitive functions go out the window. http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/hu/groups/sleep/wellcome.htm

[ParticleOne]

Since all the facts are not established yet (work in progress) I will explain this in an unscientific way:

 

Sleep is more important than we have understood. All mammals sleep, and it is a necessity for survival just as feeding.

 

Feeding is also a necessity for neurons, but for the complex conscious part this is a problem while functioning. It is almost like trying to refuel an open burner with gasoline while it is burning. You have to extinguish the flame before you refuel, otherwise you have a problem.

That’s why the neuron has to close for the possibilities to fire while “feeding” otherwise the firing will be uncontrolled, and this blocking is sleep. We experience dreams or “random” firing in the transition time of blocked and waking up (or semi-waking) to normal function of the neuron.

 

If we do not sleep or sleep poorly over time the conscious and subtle analytical part of the brain will be exhausted and loose the ability to stimulate other parts of the brain, which is vital. We experience it especially for our immune system, without sleep we are especially vulnerable to infections, but also possibly other immune-system related diseases. (Experience have shown that a rat dies from infections if kept from sleeping over longer periods (2-3 weeks)).

 

Neurons have for a long time been neglected as cells with a major immune-regulatory function because they do not express major histocompatibility complex class II. New data show that neurons are highly immune regulatory, having a crucial role in governing T-cell response and possible T-cell development.

This could lead to malfunctioning T-cell development resulting in diseases we know are immune-system related.

[big ez]

I know about lack of sleep first hand. I do not know much about the scientific approach to it though. I work graveyard shift and go to school during the day. My duties also require me to be on call. My body has adapted in a way that I get my sleep at different times of the day. I sleep for half an hour here an hour there. The longest stretch I have gone is almost 6 days without sleep. I know that the first thing that suffers is your digestive system. You get real bad stomach aches and feel like vomiting. Then your balance and hand eye coordination start to be effected. After about the 4th day you will actually start hallucinating. Back to the sleep idea. When I get my sleep (in short bursts) it is deep, deep sleep. I instantly go to sleep when I rest. The idea that I have is that your body will adapt. I do not get 6-8 hrs of sleep in one full period of time, but I do get about 6-8 hrs accumulative. Do you think your body will find some way to adapt before it starts to turn on itself?

[weknowthewor]

I got an article telling about lack of sleep :

The Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Brain and Behavior

Sarah Ledoux

Sleep deprivation is a commonplace occurrence in modern culture. Every day there seems to be twice as much work and half as much time to complete it in. This results in either extended periods of wakefulness or a decrease in sleep over an extended period of time. While some people may like to believe that they can train their bodies to not require as much sleep as they once did this belief is false (1). Sleep is needed to regenerate certain parts of the body, especially the brain, so that it may continue to function optimally. After periods of extended wakefulness or reduced sleep neurons may begin to malfunction, visibly effecting a person's behavior. Some organs, such as muscles, are able to regenerate even when a person is not sleeping so long as they are resting. This could involve lying awake but relaxed within a quite environment. Even though cognitive functions might not seem necessary in this scenario the brain, especially the cerebral cortex, is not able to rest but rather remains semi-alert in a state of "quiet readiness" (2). Certain stages of sleep are needed for the regeneration of neurons within the cerebral cortex while other stages of sleep seem to be used for forming new memories and generating new synaptic connections. The effects of sleep deprivation on behavior have been tested with relation to the presence of activity in different sections of the cerebral cortex.

The temporal lobe of the cerebral cortex is associated with the processing of language. During verbal learning tests on subjects who are fully rested functional magnetic resonance imaging scans show that this area of the brain is very active. However, in sleep deprived subjects there is no activity within this region (3), (4), (5). The effects of this inactivity can be observed by the slurred speech in subjects who have gone for prolonged periods with no sleep (6).

 

Even severely sleep deprived people are still able to perform to some degree on a verbal learning test. This implies that some other area of the brain must become active to compensate for the loss of temporal lobe functioning. In fact, activity can be seen in the parietal lobe that is not present during verbal learning tests using rested subjects (5). Greater activity within this region corresponded to better performance by subjects in research studies (7). Still, sleep deprived people do not perform as well on these tests as do fully rested subjects (3), (4). One possible reason for the poorer performance after missing sleep, aside from unregenerated neurons, could be the fact that since the parietal lobe is not usually used to performing tasks such as these it is not as adept at carrying them out. Therefore, when control switches from the temporal lobe to the parietal lobe some speed and accuracy is naturally lost. Interestingly, sleep deprived subjects have been shown to have better short-term memory abilities than their well-rested counterparts (6). Since memory is associated with this region of the cerebral cortex the fact that it is already active in sleep deprived people could make it easier for new synapses to be created, thus forming new short-term memories more easily.

 

While activity is seen within the parietal lobes of rested people as they think through math problems no corresponding activity is visible within the brains of sleep-deprived subjects. Also, no new area of the brain becomes active while the sleep deprived people work on math problems. Since sleep deprived people can still complete math problems, albeit with less speed and accuracy than a well-rested individual, this data implies that a region of the brain already in use is used for this task (1).

 

The frontal lobe is the most fascinating section of the brain with relation to sleep deprivation. Its functions are associated with speech as well as novel and creative thinking (5). Sleep deprived test subjects have difficulties thinking of imaginative words or ideas. Instead, they tend to choose repetitious words or clichéd phrases. Also, a sleep-deprived individual is less able to deliver a statement well. The subject may show signs of slurred speech, stuttering, speaking in a monotone voice, or speaking at a slower pace than usual (6). Subjects in research studies also have a more difficult time reacting well to unpredicted rapid changes. Sleep deprived people do not have the speed or creative abilities to cope with making quick but logical decisions, nor do they have the ability to implement them well. Studies have demonstrated that a lack of sleep impairs one's ability to simultaneously focus on several different related tasks, reducing the speed as well as the efficiency of one's actions (8). A person may be able to react to a complex scenario when suddenly presented with it but, similar to the verbal tests, the subject will most likely pick an unoriginal solution. If presented with a similar situation multiple times with slight variations in the information presented the subject chooses the same solution, even though it might not be as applicable to the new senario (9).

 

Part of the frontal lobe, the prefrontal cortex, has several functions specifically coupled with it. Judgment, impulse control, attention, and visual association have all been related to this region of the cerebral cortex (8). A recent study has shown that the prefrontal cortex, usually the most active area of the brain in rested individuals, becomes more active as a person remains awake for long periods of time (3), (4). This region regenerates during the first stage of sleep, giving a person the ability to feel somewhat refreshed after only a short nap (5). The length of the first stage of sleep cycle is somewhat dependant upon how long the person had previously been awake. The longer the period of wakefulness, the longer the brain remains in the first stage of sleep. When the brain enters into the REM stage of sleep the prefrontal cortex is active once more.

 

The implications of this data seem to be fairly important in supporting the location of the I-function within the brain. The prefrontal cortex is active whenever a person is awake, no matter how little sleep they have had. Also, this area is active while dreaming. Since the individual is aware of him or herself during both of these instances, but is not aware during the stages of sleep when the prefrontal cortex is shut down, it seems logical that the I-function is located within this region. This indicates that the I-function is what is resting and regenerating during the first stage of sleep. It would be interesting to study prefrontal cortex activity while a person is conscious, but unaware of his or her actions, due to an influence such as drugs or alcohol. According to the results of the sleep deprivation studies little or no activity should be seen in the prefrontal cortex at anytime when the individual is unaware of his or herself.

 

One of the symptoms of prolonged sleep deprivation is hallucinations (10). This could also be related to the I-function since it is the system that integrates the input from all other areas of the brain. If the neurons composing the I-function become too taxed then the picture in the head that the I-function produces may be more dissimilar from reality than usual. The neurons, under pressure to continue functioning but unable to perform optimally, create an image useful enough for a person to see most of his or her surroundings. Metabolic activity in the prefrontal cortex can drop as much as eleven percent after a person has missed sleep for only twenty four hours (8). As a person loses more sleep or continues to receive less-than-adequate amounts of sleep the neurons become even more taxed and the I-function may begin to generate even less coherent images possibly resulting in temporary insanity.

 

Another piece of evidence supporting the location of the I-function is that mammals have REM sleep whereas cold-blooded animals do not and mammals have a neocortex, located within the prefrontal cortex, while cold-blooded animals do not. REM sleep stimulates areas of the brain used for learning and memory (10). When a person is taught a new skill his or her performance does not improve until he or she receives at least eight hours of sleep (11). An extended period of sleep ensures that the brain will be able to complete the full sleep cycle, including REM sleep. The necessity of sleep for learning could be due to the fact that sleep increases the production of proteins while reducing the rate at which they are broken down (10). Proteins are used to regenerate the neurons within the brain. Without them new synapses may not be able to be formed, thus limiting the amount of information a sleep-deprived individual can maintain.

 

One of the possible side effects of a continued lack of sleep is death. Usually this is the result of the fact that the immune system is weakened without sleep. The number of white blood cells within the body decreases, as does the activity of the remaining white blood cells. The body also decreases the amount of growth hormone produced (8). The ability of the body to metabolize sugar declines, turning sugar into fat. One study stated that people who sleep less than four hours per night are three times more likely to die within the next six years (11). Although the longest a human has remained awake was eleven days rats that are continually deprived of sleep die within two to five weeks, generally due to their severely weakened immune system (10), (11), (12).

 

In a way sleep deprivation studies help us to study the relationship between the brain and behavior in a very unique way by observing how a person's behavior changes as the brain shuts down. By taking images of the brain showing where activity is located it is possible to correlate the behavior exhibited by a subject with his or her brain patterns. Just like a person cannot jog for three continuous days a person's brain cannot operate without rest breaks. Since different regions of the brain rest during different stages of the sleep cycle, sleep cannot be cut short. In fact, if the brain does not receive a break it will soon begin to shut down for periods of microsleep. This is essentially several seconds of actual sleep; delta waves that interrupt the regular EEG of an awake person thereby impairing his or her continuity of cognitive function. Microsleep generally happens directly before performance failure occurs (8). Without sleep our brains deteriorate, and if the argument that brain=behavior is true, then our behavior will also suffer accordingly.

[Peels]

I think there are many holes in the above referred article.

 

For example, the article wrote: "One of the possible side effects of a continued lack of sleep is death. Usually this is the result of the fact that the immune system is weakened without sleep."

 

To my knowledge, the above statement is solely based on animal studies, especially on rats. If taking a close look of how these studies were performed, one can easily find out that, at least, two more factors (fatigue and stress) played a significant role for the death of these rats. Just single out sleep deprivation as a root cause could not be justified by such kind of experiments. The fact is that no recorded human death has been concluded as a result of lack of sleep yet; and in one of human sleep deprivation records, a man experienced no long term negative effects after 11 days without sleep.

 

Another example, the article wrote: "Just like a person cannot jog for three continuous days a person's brain cannot operate without rest breaks. Since different regions of the brain rest during different stages of the sleep cycle, sleep cannot be cut short. In fact, if the brain does not receive a break it will soon begin to shut down for periods of microsleep."

 

There is no scientific result indicates that a human brain needs rest. We know that many human organs never take a break: heart, lung etc. In my view, some parts of brain can not even afford to take a break. Anyway, to assume the function of sleep is for resting the brain is problematic.

[abid]

Sleep is extremely important for consolidation of memory. This has been shown time and again in many sleep research labs. Latest has been this German scientist called Jan Born who even tried to boost memory. he asked people to memorise word pairs that have no relation and during their sleep artificially played with the NREM sleep and subjects could recall more words the next day compared to control. Interestingly since memory can be of many forms, this trick doesnt work with non-declarative memory tasks like motor control learning. But still important research which proves that artificially enhancing sleep enhances memory.

From other animals other than rats also it is known that less sleep reduces life span. So sleep well guys... its the secret to long life. It really is.

[ecoli]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6347043.stm

 

I thought this article would be appropriate for this thread.

[Pangloss]

There was also a report out this week that less sleep contributes to overeating, due to changes in the chemicals that cause your brain to think you're full or hungry.

 

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory?id=2855457

[nootropolis]

Anyone wanna take a guess at why people who get less then 8 hours live longer then those who dont??

 

http://health.ucsd.edu/news/2002/02_08_Kripke.html

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Also, i think there is a big section in this thread missing on quantity of sleep Vs. quality, these things can make a difference, the more you have of one the less you need of the othere!

 

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I recommend reading "powerful sleep" by Postawski. I've incorprated many changes based on the book after finding them to be beneficial first.

[weknowthewor]

Can I know how many hrs sleep is required for a 18yr old then a 8 yr old child having 8-10 hrs of sleep?

 

Thanks.