▪️ Scientists exposed danger not sleeping at the first half of night poses to the human brain
What do you do during the first half of your night? Reading? Gisting? Or clubbing? Scientists have revealed reasons any other thing except sleeping at this period is a potential danger to the brain.
A new study in zebrafish by scientists at the University of California delves into the puzzling world of sleep.
Their findings, published in Nature, shed light on the brain’s activity during sleep but leave a question mark hanging over the second half of the night.
The research supports the idea that sleep acts as a “reset” for the brain. During sleep, the brain weakens newly formed connections between neurons (synaptic pruning). This pruning seems to happen primarily in the first half of sleep.
While the first half focuses on streamlining connections, the purpose of the second half remains unclear. Researchers suggest it might involve other processes like waste removal or cellular repair. The new research sheds light on the mysterious world of sleep but also leaves some questions swimming. The researchers say their findings, published in Nature, provide insight into the role of sleep, but still leave an open question around what function the latter half of a night’s sleep serves.
The study supports the Synaptic Homeostasis Hypothesis, a key theory on the purpose of sleep that proposes that sleeping acts as a reset for the brain.
Lead author Professor Jason Rihel (UCL Cell & Developmental Biology) said: “When we are awake, the connections between brain cells get stronger and more complex. If this activity were to continue unabated, it would be energetically unsustainable. Too many active connections between brain cells could prevent new connections from being made the following day.
READ ALSO
N225/kWh To N206.80/kWh: Ikeja DisCo Slashes Tariff For Band A Customers
Nigeria Sinks Power Sale, Export For Togo, Benin, Niger To 6%
We’ll Stop Funding Varsities, Polytechnics With Poor Performance
Popular UK Magazine, Reader’s Digest, Folds Up After 86 Years
1,2,3,4,5 – 0: How Chelsea Disgraced West Ham At Stamford Bridge
“While the function of sleep remains mysterious, it may be serving as an ‘off-line’ period when those connections can be weakened across the brain, in preparation for us to learn new things the following day.”
For the study, the scientists used optically translucent zebrafish, with genes enabling synapses (structures that communicate between brain cells) to be easily imaged. The research team monitored the fish over several sleep-wake cycles.
The researchers found that brain cells gain more connections during waking hours and then lose them during sleep. They found that this was dependent on how much sleep pressure (need for sleep) the animal had built up before being allowed to rest; if the scientists deprived the fish from sleeping for a few extra hours, the connections continued to increase until the animal was able to sleep.
“If the patterns we observed hold true in humans, our findings suggest that this remodelling of synapses might be less effective during a mid-day nap, when sleep pressure is still low, rather than at night, when we really need the sleep,” Rihel added.
The researchers also found that these rearrangements of connections between neurons mostly happened in the first half of the animal’s nightly sleep. This mirrors the pattern of slow-wave activity, which is part of the sleep cycle that is strongest at the beginning of the night.
The findings add weight to the theory that sleep serves to dampen connections within the brain, preparing for more learning and new connections again the next day. But the study doesn’t tell anything about what happens in the second half of the night. There are other theories around sleep being a time for clearance of waste in the brain or repair for damaged cells — perhaps other functions kick in for the second half of the night.
Platforms Africa