Snooze and Lose - New Study

Why You Shouldn't Hit Your Snooze Alarm

It's the most tempting thing in the world - your alarm clock goes off to wake you up in the morning. You reach for the snooze button to get an extra few minutes of sleep. It's something you've likely done often as the daily ritual of getting up just a bit too early, staying up just a little too late and working just a few too many hours catches up to you.

But you shouldn't.

That simple act of getting back to sleep may be costing you mentally. Studies show the brain produces a "wake-up" neuron called orexin, designed to help you feel more alert in the morning. It combines with activity neurons that make it harder for you to fall back into the land of nod.

But hitting the snooze alarm doesn't always create the necessary cycle that allows them to both work together. And scientists say it appears that's why so many people appear "dozy" during the day - they simply didn't let the natural processes that involve waking actually happen. The result: a long hangover effect the more you hit that time delay switch.

best bet to stop the effects of too little sleep is to make sure you get the most from your down time. Here are some ways to do it:

• Establish regular bed and wake times.
• Avoid consuming alcohol near bedtime.
• Avoid caffeine in coffee, tea, colas after 4pm
• Don't use your bedroom for doing work or problem-solving. Use it only for sleep or sex.
• Take a hot bath before bed.
• Keep your bedroom cool.
• Place the bedroom clock out of reach and facing away. Looking at the clock can aggravate sleep problems.
• Have a light snack before bedtime: Foods rich in the amino acid tryptophan, such as milk and turkey, can help you sleep. But avoid heavy or fatty meals, which can cause acid reflux, too close to lights out.
• If you frequently wake up to urinate during the night, cut back on fluids near bedtime.
• If your partner snores, sleep in a separate bedroom or get a good pair of earplugs.
• If lying in bed and unable to sleep, get up and go back when you feel sleepier. Don't lie there stewing.
• Seek medical help if you can't sleep for long periods of time.

Source: CityNews.ca

Sleep Deprivation Detrimental to Reason

Lack of sleep hinders coping skills, logical reasoning: study

Scientists have confirmed what every newborn-cradling, sleep-deprived parent knows: that lack of sleep is connected to an inability to cope with normal emotional challenges.

They also theorize that sleep deprivation is linked to psychiatric ailments such as anxiety, depression and bipolar disorder.

Scientists at the University of California at Berkeley and Harvard Medical School have found that the amygdala, the region of the brain that alerts the body to protect itself in times of danger, goes into overdrive on no sleep. This in turn shuts down the prefrontal cortex, which commands logical reasoning, and thus prevents the release of chemicals needed to calm down the fight-or-flight reflex.

The findings are published Oct. 22 in the journal Current Biology.

"It's almost as though, without sleep, the brain had reverted back to more primitive patterns of activity, in that it was unable to put emotional experiences into context and produce controlled, appropriate responses," said Matthew Walker, director of UC Berkeley's Sleep and Neuroimaging Laboratory and senior author of the study, in a release.

The researchers studied 26 healthy participants aged 18 to 30, splitting them into two groups with equal numbers of males and females.

The sleep-deprived group stayed awake during Day 1, Night 1 and Day 2, while the sleep-control group stayed awake both days and slept normally during the night.

The participants' brains were scanned with magnetic resonance imaging while they were exposed to images that ranged from neutral to very negative. The brain responses of the participants were measured.

Researchers found that the amygdala became hyperactive in response to negative visual stimuli such as mutilated bodies, children with tumors and other gory images in study participants who stayed awake for 35 hours straight.

Brain scans of those who got a full night's sleep in their own beds showed normal activity in the amygdala.

"The emotional centres of the brain were over 60 per cent more reactive under conditions of sleep deprivation than in subjects who had obtained a normal night of sleep," Walker said.

The researchers feel that the findings point to a connection between sleep disruption and mood disorders, including bipolar disorder.
Source: CBC.ca