5 Ways Sleep Affects the Brain

Getting some good sleep is essential for a healthy brain. Sleep is well, deep rest for your brain and your entire body. Sleep provides an opportunity to restore brain cells and refreshes its working ability. An adult brain needs about seven/eight hours sleep each night to rest. A 2001 American study showed that a lack of sleep had been known to bring on psychosis simply by reducing the brain’s ability to link events and actions with emotion; something which is paramount and central to an array of psychiatric conditions. But what happens when a person is sleep deprived and cannot get enough sleep for the brain? No sleep means no growth of new brain cells, and it means serious brain problems that can cause difficulties in life.

Listed below are 5 Ways in Which Sleep Affects Our Brain.

1. Sleep is needed for cognition

It has recently been asserted that sleep has a profound impact on cognitive functioning which includes long-term memory storage, working memory, attention and decision making. A lack of sleep caused a decline in all these abilities.

2. Sleep helps improve creativity

An abundance of research now proves that getting enough sleep gives you the edge to help you perform at your best and be more creative.

3. Sleep deprivation affects frontal brain lobe

The frontal lobe is responsible for controlling our emotions, behavior, judgment and making decisions. Thinking and processing the information gets harder after long time wakefulness. Not getting enough sleep can cause other severe mental problems and can be fatal.

4. Decreased alertness

Sleep deprivation decreases alertness. Since fatigue increases, the brain is not well rested, and therefore cannot function well.

5. Toxins associated with Alzheimer’s disease are cleared during sleep

One of the latest discoveries is that our brain is capable of removing the toxins while we’re asleep. When we are asleep, the space between brain cells expands more, which clears the toxins through a fluid called cerebrospinal fluid. The toxins and proteins in our body systems accumulate during the day. Our brain helps clear them while we sleep.

Lack of sleep has been linked to many different health conditions including hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, and many different mental conditions. In most cases, achieving regular sleep each night can stop these circumstances, but in some cases, the damage is irreversible. There are many different ways that a lack of sleep can affect the body. The consequences of not getting enough rest at night can be dangerous to a person’s health and well-being.