Sleep Deprivation

Brain regions can take short naps during wakefulness, leading to errors

If you've ever lost your keys or stuck the milk in the cupboard and the cereal in the refrigerator, you may have been the victim of a tired brain region that was taking a quick nap.

Neuroscience created Apr 27, 2011 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (15) | comments 5 | with audio podcast

Sleep preserves and enhances unpleasant emotional memories

A recent study by sleep researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst is the first to suggest that a person's emotional response after witnessing an unsettling picture or traumatic event is greatly ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created Jan 17, 2012 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (15) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Sleep deprivation may disrupt your genes, study says

(HealthDay)—Far more than just leaving you yawning, a small amount of sleep deprivation disrupts the activity of genes, potentially affecting metabolism and other functions in the human body, a new study ...

Medical research created Feb 25, 2013 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (9) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Do white LEDs disrupt our biological clocks?

You come into contact every day with light-emitting diodes (LEDs) -- they illuminate alarm clocks, new televisions, traffic lights, and smartphone displays. Increasingly, you will see white-light versions ...

Health created Oct 17, 2011 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (8) | comments 6 | with audio podcast

New study shows that even your fat cells need sleep

In a study that challenges the long-held notion that the primary function of sleep is to give rest to the brain, researchers have found that not getting enough shut-eye has a harmful impact on fat cells, reducing by 30 percent ...

Medical research created Oct 15, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (7) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Monday's medical myth: You need eight hours of continuous sleep each night

We're often told by the popular press and well-meaning family and friends that, for good health, we should fall asleep quickly and sleep solidly for about eight hours—otherwise we're at risk of physical ...

Health created Aug 28, 2012 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (7) | comments 0

Roots of memory impairment, resulting from sleep deprivation, identified

(Medical Xpress) -- From high-school students to surgeons, anyone who has pulled an all-nighter knows there is a price to be paid the next day: trouble focusing, a fuzzy memory and other cognitive impairments.  Now, ...

Neuroscience created May 17, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Let crying babes lie: Study supports notion of leaving infants to cry themselves back to sleep

Today, mothers of newborns find themselves confronting a common dilemma: Should they let their babies "cry it out" when they wake up at night? Or should they rush to comfort their crying little one?

Psychology & Psychiatry created Jan 02, 2013 | popularity 2.3 / 5 (13) | comments 13 | with audio podcast

Sleep problems may be early sign of Alzheimer's

Sleep disruptions may be among the earliest indicators of Alzheimer's disease, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report Sept. 5 in Science Translational Medicine.

Alzheimer's disease & dementia created Sep 05, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Nursing professor claims teens are "sleep texting"

Nursing professor Elizabeth Dowdell, of Villanova University has reported in an interview with a CBS news affiliate in Philadelphia, that she has discovered a new phenomena she calls "sleep texting." She says it's just like ...

Health created Feb 18, 2013 | popularity 2.9 / 5 (7) | comments 4 | with audio podcast weblog

Crossing the line: What constitutes torture?

Torture. The United Nations defines it as the “infliction of severe physical or mental pain or suffering.” But how severe is severe? That judgment determines whether or not the law classifies an interrogation practice ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created Apr 13, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 16

Sleep deprivation may reduce risk of PTSD, according to new research

Sleep deprivation in the first few hours after exposure to a significantly stressful threat actually reduces the risk of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), according to a study by researchers from Ben-Gurion University ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created Jul 18, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Like coffee, blue light keeps night drivers alert

(Medical Xpress)—Researchers from the Université Bordeaux Segalen, France, and their Swedish colleagues have recently demonstrated that constant exposure to blue light is as effective as coffee at improving ...

Other created Nov 23, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Losing sleep? Scientists evaluate why

The issue of sleep deprivation has gone beyond the counting of sheep and into the scientific domain, as European researchers set up 'sleep labs' to study the biomedical and sociological factors keeping us ...

Health created May 03, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Expert explores how sunlight may affect ADHD patients

Researchers are interested in exploring how sunlight, sleep and screens (like those on computers and TVs) may affect those with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), says Dr. L. Eugene Arnold, a child psychiatrist ...

Attention deficit disorders created May 17, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0


Sleep deprivation is the condition of not having enough sleep; it can be either chronic or acute. A chronic sleep-restricted state can cause fatigue, daytime sleepiness, clumsiness and weight loss or weight gain. It adversely affects the brain and cognitive function. Few studies have compared the effects of acute total sleep deprivation and chronic partial sleep restriction. Complete absence of sleep over long periods is impossible for humans to achieve (unless they suffer from fatal familial insomnia); brief microsleeps cannot be avoided. Long-term total sleep deprivation has caused death in lab animals.

This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.

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