SLEEP...AGAIN

I know I posted about sleep last week but I'm at it again as I'm not quite sure you really got the message!

Here are some points neuroscientist Russell Foster:

 – Those who regularly have less then 7 hours of sleep per night are more likely to develop mood/mental health problems

- By depriving your brain of sleep, you impair essential processes in the brain and reduce overall cognition

- What happens to the brain when we sleep defines how effective we’ll be when we're awake

- You lay down memories, consolidate information gathered from the previous day and the brain also comes up with solutions to complex problems

- A tired brain remembers negative experiences and negative facts and forgets the positive experiences

- Tired brains also see the world a very different way

- Beta-amyloid, a pre cursor to dementia/alzhiemers, is partially cleared while we sleep

- Growth/repair happens at night

- Short term sleep loss effects include being more impulsive, lacking empathy, not being able to lay down memory, can’t problem solve and will see a decrease in cognitive function as well as a loss of humor

- Long term effects include long term stress, increased cortisol, suppressed immune system leading to infection, cancer, coronary heart disease, metabolic abnormalities, type 2 diabetes and getting hooked on stimulants to stay energised

- You’ll release more gherlin which is a hunger hormone, leading to the ingestion of more carbs/sugars which can lead to weight gain

- You can be more vulnerable to mental health problems ranging from depression to bipolar and schizophrenia

- The best indicator of a slide into depression is a change in the pattern of sleep beforehand

- If you have a bad experience then don’t go to bed for 6 – 8 hours so that it doesn’t instill itself in your memories too much