Are You Awake? ... Well Get to Sleep!

Kaylie Black

Dr. Gazdik- Stofer

Bio 1615-008

February 15, 2017

  

          When looking for a scientific article to learn more for this bog assignment I came across one that was about the sleep and wake patterns of humans. I have been recently studying in my psychology class the sleep cycles and stages so I thought that this topic would be very beneficial. Also as college kids we sometimes find ourselves awake in the night for reasons that we do not know, but hopefully this blog will help with possible reasons.

     

       According to the statistic given from the National Institutes of Health 25-30% of American adults have sleep disorders/disruptions. These sleep disorders are often due to the mind being more awake rather than body shutting down for the night allowing for the body to recover from the day. Mentioned in the article was the fact that the brain is stimulated by light. If we are staying up late looking at social media or working school assignments are brain is going to be more active rather than doing things with a dimmer light which allows our brain to slow down and allow us to sleep faster and longer.  It is said in this article that the hormone dopamine is secreted in the brain and is a cause for such wakefulness due to arousal and reward. In this article it explains that the reward system in our brain is what essentially keeps us alive whether it is to eat food because we are hungry, or be productive in our day, or even to just regulate out sleep-awake states.

The Stanford University of Medicine published an article that outlines the sleep-wake patterns using mice for their research. Their study consist of monitoring mice brain activity and the release of dopamine causing them to remain awake as well as when transitioning from a wake state to a falling asleep the dopamine levels dropped. They also had video cameras in the cages to observe behavior that may be associated with these two states of being awake verses habits of sleep. One experiment that they did was that they took the control group mice nest where the mice slept and put it into a new cage and went to sleep like normal. However, the experimental group of mice would scope out the new cage and would start building a place of nesting before falling asleep. They concluded that part of mice ritual for sleep is having a nesting place. I find it interesting that mice just like humans have to feel safe in their homes.

I have learned that preparing properly for sleep is very important to have the greatest results. The brain is stimulated through not only light but through using all of our senses. Eliminating distractions and allowing out bodies to run regularly will help in our fight against sleep disorders. If people are still struggling there are medicines that you can buy to counter act the dopamine level and help you sleep. I have learned to appreciate sleep when I can get it as a college student. I have learned also that when we are safe and are thinking less about our worries of the world then we can fall asleep and stay asleep just as the mice have represented in this study.

Source:

http://www.biologynews.net/archives/2016/09/05/brain_circuit_that_drives_sleepwake_states_sleeppreparation_behavior_is_identified.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+biologynews%2Fheadlines+%28Biology+News+Net%29