Showing posts with label interrupted sleep. Show all posts
Showing posts with label interrupted sleep. Show all posts

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Tireless research reveals secrets of the 'sleep hormone'




This article may be the answer for anyone out there suffering from insomnia! A team from the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) and McGill University has made a discovery by revealing the work of melatonin, also known as the "sleep hormone." The research, which was worked on with the help of scientists in Italy, shows the role played by the melatonin receptor in the brain that promotes deep sleep. This discovery led the researchers to develop a new drug called UCM765 which will activates this receptor. The results may be the development of new and promising treatments for insomnia, which is a sleep disorder millions of people suffer from.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Fragmented Sleep "Harms Memory"

http://drmikewellness.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Sleep-inertia-image.jpg


Based on the findings of the National Academy of Science, "broken sleep affects the ability to build memories." A UK sleep expert claims that our brain evaluates the day's event and information is "saved" in our memory during our deep sleep. When our sleep is interrupted, not lack of, the "memorizing" process is disrupted. Researchers ran tests on mice. They found that mice, whose sleep has been disrupted, did not remember objects they have encountered previously. Researchers believe that these findings may explain why those who suffer from sleep apnea or Alzheimer experience memory lost, but there are no evidence to prove this. Additionally, I did some research and found that there is a connection between sleep and memory. I found that "sleep itself has a role in the consolidation of memory, which is essential for learning new information."

I found this article interesting because I know my sleep always get interrupted by my phone going off in the middle of the night or when I get only a couple hours of sleep on some nights and my alarm goes off.  I find that on these days, my performance is less adequate than the days that I get a sufficient amount of uninterrupted sleep. This article may motivate people to become more attentive to their sleep patterns, especially college students like myself whose memory should be topnotch when finals come around.


Citations:
For some unknown reason, the first link is not "clickable" even though I linked the URL and tested the link. Therefore, here are both website URLs
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-14279123
http://healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/healthy/matters/benefits-of-sleep/learning-memory