sleep deprivation
A night of partying ages the brain by up to two years
Going through the night without sleeping is not doing your brain any good. This is the conclusion reached by an international research team. But there is also good news.
published
In order to get the necessary rest sleep, you should heed these tips.
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Researchers have examined the direct impact of sleep deprivation on the biological age of the brain.
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They examined 134 young, healthy volunteers.
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They analyzed what happens to the brain during total and partial sleep deprivation.
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Conclusion: Complete sleep deprivation increases biological brain age by one to two years.
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Through recovery sleep aging can be reversed.
After just one night without sleep, the brain appears older than its biological age should be. This is the conclusion reached by an international research team with Swiss participation. 134 healthy participants between the ages of 19 and 93 (42 women and 92 men) were examined.
First was the biological age of the brain in all of them determined by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).. Various experimental sleep conditions were then investigated in the Envihab sleep laboratory of the DLR Institute of Aerospace Medicine in Cologne, among others: complete sleep deprivation (being awake for more than 24 hours), acute sleep deprivation (three hours of sleep for one night) and chronic partial sleep deprivation (five hours). hours of sleep for five consecutive nights).
The scientists realized that complete sleep deprivation increases the biological brain age by one to two years. In contrast, brain age was not significantly altered by either acute or chronic partial sleep deprivation.
Restful sleep is crucial
There is also good news from the researchers for people who like to party and like to take a night off. “Interestingly, the brain ages differed after a night of restful sleep no longer from the initial value. The brain ‘rejuvenated’, so to speak,” explains lead author David Elmenhorst from the Institute for Neuroscience and Medicine at Forschungszentrum Jülich.
This shows that sleep is essential for humans to maintain physical and mental health. And also that sleep and the brain influence each other. A sleep disorder can accelerate the aging process of the brain. Elmenhort’s conclusion: “Overall, the consistent results suggest that only total sleep loss alters brain morphology in young participants in an age-like direction. However, these changes are reversed by restful sleep.” In short: If you’re going through it, you should at least treat yourself to a restful long sleep the following night.
The study appeared in «Journal of Neuroscience».