Scientists identify the switch that says it's time to sleep
Recently, researchers at Oxford University have been studying fruit flies and their sleeping behaviors. From this study, they have found a sleep switch in fruit fly brains that is likely to also be in humans. This is likely because fruit flies and humans both have similar neurons in their brain that put them to sleep and stay active during sleep. What causes humans to sleep is the combination of two mechanisms in the body. The first one is called the body clock which sets sleeping patterns to the 24 hour cycle. The second one is the homeostat which keeps track of how long you've been awake and puts you to sleep when you need to reset.
Understanding the sleep switch in humans could lead to improving treatments for sleeping disorders. It could also lead to a better understanding of why we need sleep. Researchers believe they can figure this out by finding what causes the brain that resets sleep. Researchers have just began this study and still have many questions to find answers to. Researchers still want to find out what signal the sleep switch responds to. They also want to find out what is being monitored by the cells while we are awake.
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This topic is very interesting to me, especially because my parents are always telling me I need to get more sleep throughout the week. Teenagers with busy schedules do not value their sleep and more often than not, don't get enough of it. I think that with scientists doing more research on what puts us to sleep it will help raise awareness of its importance. This research leading to possible improvements in treatment for sleep disorders would have a massive impact on the world. In America alone, 40 million people suffer from chronic sleeping disorders. Sleep disorders can be difficult to diagnose and when they are, there aren't that many options for treatment. Sleeping pills are only temporary treatment and cannot be used long term. Most other treatments require drastic lifestyle changes which busy, working adults and teenagers cannot always adjust to. I hope this research is continued and ends up having an effect on unaware teenagers and people affected by sleeping disorders.
ReplyDeleteLink: http://www.helpguide.org/life/sleep_disorders.htm
The human sleep switch (if there is one) is a very intriguing topic! Who knew fruit flies had one, too?
ReplyDeleteI believe it's important to find out what causes drowsiness to occur and why it happens. This information could prove extremely helpful to people with sleeping disorders or anyone, really. Based on this knowledge (when scientists discover the causes), we could maybe be able to modify our daily schedules in order to obtain the maximum amount of sleep (without having to stay awake, trying to fall asleep).
According to the National Sleep Foundation, 30-40% of adults have experienced some form or symptoms of insomnia, and 10-15% of adults claim they have chronic insomnia.
To read more on insomnia, visit this website: http://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-disorders-problems/insomnia-and-sleep.
To read about effects of insomnia and tips to prevent it, visit this website: http://sleepfoundation.org/insomnia/.