Thank you Itzhak Fried of UCLA. Thank you Yuval Nir of Tel Aviv University. Thank you Chiara Cirelli and Giulio Tononi of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. And thank you unnamed epileptic persons who stayed up all night with electrodes stuck in their heads. Those brave souls allowed the aforementioned researchers to record their brain activity as part of a newly released study. The patients had not responded to traditional drug therapies, and were admitted to the hospital and wired up to see if they could be helped. The idea was to keep them up all night, making them sleep deprived with the goal of forcing a seizure. And since they would be hooked up to recorders when that seizure came, the researchers hoped to be able to pinpoint the spot in their noggins that caused the problem, and then be able to surgically fix it. Fun way to spend the night, huh?
But you don't just ask someone to pull an all-nighter unless they're a college student, and not expect them to nod off. So the researchers kept them awake and focused with memory games, face matching exercises and the like. Not surprisingly, the longer the subjects stayed awake, the less sharp they were. Their responses slowed and got sloppier. None of that was unexpected. The researchers point out that the changes in cognitive performance that come with sleep deprivation are quite similar to the decline that comes from drinking alcohol.
What was surprising was that as the night wore on, parts of the brain didn't just slow down, they turned off. As Dr. Nir put it, "Most of the brain was up and running, but temporal lobe neurons happened to be in slumber, and behavioral lapses subsequently followed. As the pressure for sleep mounted, specific regions of the brain caught some sleep." Or in layman's terms, you may be awake, but parts of your brain are taking a nap.
Finally, vindication: I do with my entire body what my brain is doing naturally to itself.
For so many, myself included, sleep deprivation has become more than just a grumbling point. Lack of a good night's rest has been cited as a contributing factor in everything from hypertension to diabetes, obesity, heart attack, and stroke, not to mention vehicle accidents and medical errors. The causes of insomnia are many, from physical ones like age and anxiety, to environmental culprits, including overstimulation from all our devices. But regardless of the root cause, a whole body of work says that if you can't fix the underlying problem, then a patch might be order. And that patch may be taking a few moments to purposely shut down.
Most recently, a study by Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania found a short sleep in the afternoon improves people's thinking and memory skills, and makes the brain perform as if it were five years younger. The team studied 3,000 elderly Chinese people and looked at whether those who frequently took afternoon naps performed better on mental ability tests. Scientists found people who took a nap after lunch did better on the tests than those who did not sleep in the middle of the day. They also made it through Monday Night Football.
It doesn't work for everyone, and it's not always possible. Personally speaking, if I'm busy I'm fine. But if I'm just sitting at my desk and grinding out proposals and budgets, a little shut-eye helps. In light of the studies above, rather than let selective areas of my brain shut down on their own, the smart move is to shut it all down for some recharging. More than once that short interruption has gotten me to the end of the task at hand, columns included.
Best of all, I know I have company at the highest levels. Pope Francis recently told CathloficTV2000 that "When I pray, sometimes I fall asleep." His explanation is that in prayer Christians feel like children lying in their fathers' arms – a place conducive to napping. He said that the Lord actually likes when that happens, as it indicates how at peace they are. And he cites historical precedent as well: "Saint Therese did it too."
So to summarize: my brain is going to do it whether I want it to or not. Napping will make it perform as if its five years younger. And the Pope assures me it's OK with God. I don't need any more encouragement: wake me in an hour.
-END-
Marc Wollin of Bedford loves to take naps. His column appears regularly in The Record-Review, The Scarsdale Inquirer and online at http://www.glancingaskance.blogspot.com/, as well as via Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
But you don't just ask someone to pull an all-nighter unless they're a college student, and not expect them to nod off. So the researchers kept them awake and focused with memory games, face matching exercises and the like. Not surprisingly, the longer the subjects stayed awake, the less sharp they were. Their responses slowed and got sloppier. None of that was unexpected. The researchers point out that the changes in cognitive performance that come with sleep deprivation are quite similar to the decline that comes from drinking alcohol.
What was surprising was that as the night wore on, parts of the brain didn't just slow down, they turned off. As Dr. Nir put it, "Most of the brain was up and running, but temporal lobe neurons happened to be in slumber, and behavioral lapses subsequently followed. As the pressure for sleep mounted, specific regions of the brain caught some sleep." Or in layman's terms, you may be awake, but parts of your brain are taking a nap.
Finally, vindication: I do with my entire body what my brain is doing naturally to itself.
For so many, myself included, sleep deprivation has become more than just a grumbling point. Lack of a good night's rest has been cited as a contributing factor in everything from hypertension to diabetes, obesity, heart attack, and stroke, not to mention vehicle accidents and medical errors. The causes of insomnia are many, from physical ones like age and anxiety, to environmental culprits, including overstimulation from all our devices. But regardless of the root cause, a whole body of work says that if you can't fix the underlying problem, then a patch might be order. And that patch may be taking a few moments to purposely shut down.
Most recently, a study by Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania found a short sleep in the afternoon improves people's thinking and memory skills, and makes the brain perform as if it were five years younger. The team studied 3,000 elderly Chinese people and looked at whether those who frequently took afternoon naps performed better on mental ability tests. Scientists found people who took a nap after lunch did better on the tests than those who did not sleep in the middle of the day. They also made it through Monday Night Football.
It doesn't work for everyone, and it's not always possible. Personally speaking, if I'm busy I'm fine. But if I'm just sitting at my desk and grinding out proposals and budgets, a little shut-eye helps. In light of the studies above, rather than let selective areas of my brain shut down on their own, the smart move is to shut it all down for some recharging. More than once that short interruption has gotten me to the end of the task at hand, columns included.
Best of all, I know I have company at the highest levels. Pope Francis recently told CathloficTV2000 that "When I pray, sometimes I fall asleep." His explanation is that in prayer Christians feel like children lying in their fathers' arms – a place conducive to napping. He said that the Lord actually likes when that happens, as it indicates how at peace they are. And he cites historical precedent as well: "Saint Therese did it too."
So to summarize: my brain is going to do it whether I want it to or not. Napping will make it perform as if its five years younger. And the Pope assures me it's OK with God. I don't need any more encouragement: wake me in an hour.
-END-
Marc Wollin of Bedford loves to take naps. His column appears regularly in The Record-Review, The Scarsdale Inquirer and online at http://www.glancingaskance.blogspot.com/, as well as via Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
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