When I was younger my parents always reminded me of the
importance of sleep and getting enough rest during one night but I always
disregarded this notion, thinking that sleep deprivation couldn’t be all that
bad. Growing older however, proved that
sleep was highly necessary since I started to notice a loss of attention span
in high school and often overslept; feeling extremely groggy in the mornings
with no desire whatsoever to get out of bed. A huge contributor to these
effects might be because while we are sleeping, we require an inhibitory
transmitter, GABA, partly to help keep us asleep and to slow down or lower the
activity in certain regions of the brain. Conversely, if we deprive ourselves of
at least 8 hours of sleep on a regular basis the results, according to our text
book, are an increase in the neurotransmitter GABA being released and
accumulating in neurons which leads to an impairment in concentration. The same
occurs in astronauts when they have trouble sleeping over prolonged periods of
time while on a space mission; according to the text book other symptoms or
indications of sleep deprivation also include depression, irritability,
decreased alertness, impaired performance, along with dizziness, tremors, and
hallucinations in extreme cases. It was not until I researched the effects of sleep
deprivation that I found a useful tip that has often helped me throughout my
college career; and that is the effect sleep has on memory. I found out that if
I studied right before I went to sleep my recollection of the information I studied
the previous night was stronger and more detailed than when I would study immediately
before class. This occurs because the same patterns that occur during learning
also occurred during sleep, except faster! It’s almost like our brain is replaying,
or re-reading what we were learning right before we went to sleep and was
analyzing it all over again. If you have not already done so, I highly recommend
studying for class atleast 2 to 4 hours before going to sleep and immediately sleeping
after studying. If what I posted here did not sit clearly with you I’ll leave
you with this video that helped me further understand the concept and necessity
of sleep.
When I was younger I felt the same way you did about sleep. I felt that it wasn't as necessary in our life. As a child, I was one of the student's that hated nap time, and it wasn't until I began college, that I started taking naps because I wanted to, and not because I was forced. What captured my attention the most in your blog has to be the part where you mentioned studying and then going to sleep. It's interesting how the brain replays the information we were just learning and constantly repeats it. I had also read in an article that the brain rewinds the information we were studying before going to sleep, if I remember clearly I believe what I read stated that it filtered information by rewinding information.
ReplyDeleteVery true! I really learned with the help of some of the text book concepts on why sleep is important. Also, the stages of sleep is important and that is the most interesting part I think about when we sleep. I have been the same as you, groggy in the mornings if I do not have enough sleep, I have even been sick and it was hard to get over because I never fully gave my body the rest to recover from the cold. Over working your body without proper sleep can cause consequences that affect the daily life, simple things, even driving.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I didn't appreciate sleep as much as before prior to reading the text and your blog. Sleep is very important for our memory. There have been many a day where I have said to myself sleep is such a waste of time! Little did I know how important it is. I will always do my best to get 8 hours of sleep now.
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