1 Effects of Sleep Deprivation on the Mind and Body

Contents
How sleep deprivation can occur and why sleep is important ..................................................................... 1 Amount of sleep needed per age group ....................................................................................................... 2 Effects of sleep deprivation .......................................................................................................................... 2 List of websites that may be helpful on the journey .................................................................................... 3

During this Web Quest you will be on a journey to understand the importance of sleep and implications of loss of necessary sleep on the human body.

How sleep deprivation can occur and why sleep is important

There are about 47 million adults in the United Stated that have Sleep Deprivation. The process of becoming deprived of sleep can occur when one does not get the proper amount of sleep which can be caused by insomnia which in some cases is a chronic condition of not being able to sleep. Other times a person can prevent themselves from sleeping. Either way a person will succumb to the effects of lack of sleep regardless of the method by which they become sleep deprived. It is impossible for a human to refrain from sleeping for an indeterminate amount of time and will eventually fall asleep for small durations. However, it has been shown that there is a disease called fatal familial insomnia which leads to increased insomnia until the point of death. Sleep is important because it can affect your memory as well as reaction times. The reasons why we need sleep are still not clear but it is observed in many other animals to be necessary for correct functioning of the body, it even occurs in fruit flies. One reason that sleeping is necessary is that it restores glycogen in the brain which is necessary for proper functions including thought. If one does not get the proper amount of sleep they can acquire a sleep debt. What this means is that a person or animal may get the right amount of sleep one night and not the next. The sleep that was not obtained previously is not erased by getting the right amount of sleep the next night, it actually accumulates. The amount of sleep that is in debt can be corrected as long as a proper sleep schedule is maintained for a long duration allows the lack of sleep to be accounted for. The amount of sleep that is necessary is different not only per person but per species of animal. Some animals such as dolphin can allow one side of their brain to sleep while the other is awake which allows them to be alert and watch for predators. It would not be beneficial for an animal unless it is a top predator to spend long periods of time fully asleep thus exposed to attack.

2 Effects of Sleep Deprivation on the Mind and Body

Amount of sleep needed per age group

Age 0-2 months 3-11 months 1-3 years 3-5 years 5-10 years 10-17 17-over Sleep Needed (hours) 12-18 14-15 12-14 11-13 10-11 8.5-9.25 7-9

Effects of sleep deprivation

There are many side effects of sleep deprivation some of which can cause a person to be put into dangerous situations due to decreased performance of body and mind. A lack of sleep can lead to increased risk of motor vehicle accidents, increased body mass index, increased risk of diabetes, increased risk of psychiatric conditions and substance abuse, as well as loss of ability to pay attention. Sleep deprivation can also cause mood swings and even hallucinations if it is a severe case. Studies have been done using MRI information that shows the prefrontal cortex as being overactive after sleep deprivation. It is important to note that this area of the brain is what allows for functioning of working memory and practical reasoning. The pituitary gland releases a variety of hormones into the body. There are chemicals called hypothalamic factors which may be released during sleep and allow the pituitary gland to distribute hormones. Sleep deprivation may affect the ability for hypothalamic factors to be released subsequently affecting the release of hormone by the pituitary gland. Leptin is another hormone of the body which is regulated by sleep; its function is to alert the brain after eating so that a feeling of satiation can occur. Under sleep deprivation, a person may feel as though they are much hungrier than they truly are due to a lack of leptin production. There has been evidence to support that sleep deprivation may also lead to type 2 diabetes. The study looked at participants glucose levels pre and post sleep deprivation and found that sleep deprivation led to slower glucose processing after sleep deprivation. This condition would be the first step in bodily changes that would lead to type 2 diabetes.

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List of websites that may be helpful on the journey

http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/s/sleep_deprivation.htm http://www.sleepfoundation.org/article/how-sleep-works/how-much-sleep-do-we-really-need http://www.sleepfoundation.org/article/sleep-america-polls/2005-adult-sleep-habits-and-styles http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK11108/?redirect-on-error=__HOME__ http://www.medscape.org/viewarticle/502825 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_deprivation#cite_note-Fiedu-17