Study says lack of sleep may cost you your memory

Study says lack of sleep may cost you your memory
Sleep deprivation for five hours may lead to loss of memory, a new study has found.

Their analyses indicated that sleep deprivation significantly reduces the length and spine density of the dendrites belonging to the neurons in the CA1 region of the hippocampus. They repeated the sleep-loss experiment, but left the mice to sleep undisturbed for three hours afterwards. This period was chosen based on the scientists’ previous work showing that three hours is sufficient to restore deficits caused by lack of sleep. The effects of the five-hour sleep deprivation in the mice were reversed so that their dendritic structures were similar to those observed in the mice that had slept. The researchers then investigated what was happening during sleep deprivation at the molecular level. ‘Our further studies revealed that the molecular mechanisms underlying the negative effects of sleep loss do in fact target cofilin. Blocking this protein in hippocampal neurons of sleep-deprived mice not only prevented the loss of neuronal connectivity, but also made the memory processes resilient to sleep loss,’ Havekes added, in the paper published in the journal eLife . (Read: 7 simple tips for a good night’s sleep)

Source: IANS

Photo source: Getty images (Image for representational purpose only)

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