and… Sleep, Sleep or You May Not Be Able to Make Sense of Your World

Posted on May 21, 2008. Filed under: health, wellbeing | Tags: brain, insomnia, sleep, Sleep deprivation, Sleep disorder |

Scientists have found that we need sleep even more than we thought. In a study that kept people awake and then tested their responses proved that they could manage ordinary, day to day tasks. however they found it really difficult to make sense of what they saw. How often do we go without sleep partticularly man on shift work and women going through menopause and yet do not stop to think about what the lack of sleep is doing to us and how it can alter our perception of the world?

“The scientists found that even after sleep deprivation, people had periods of near-normal brain function in which they could finish tasks quickly. However, this normalcy mixed with periods of slow response and severe drops in visual processing and attention, according to their paper, published in the Journal of Neuroscience on May 21.

“Interestingly, the team found that a sleep-deprived brain can normally process simple visuals, like flashing checkerboards. But the ‘higher visual areas’ – those that are responsible for making sense of what we see – didn’t function well,” said Dr. Michael Chee, lead author and professor at the Neurobehavioral Disorders Program at Duke-NUS. “Herein lies the peril of sleep deprivation.” Physorg

If you’re finding it difficult to get enough sleep try these simple suggestions:

• a glass of warm milk (yes, it does work because it has calcium and tryptophan both great for soothing the brain.
• make sure it is dark in your bedroom, your pineal regulates your circadian rhythms through light and the absence of it
• be sure to get at least 15 minutes of sunlight on your face every day (around 8-9am or 4-5pm for sun safety, this light is important as it will signal the pineal to regulate your circadian rhythms
• if you are not asleep within 1/2 an hour to an hour get up and make a cup of warm milk and sit quietly in the dark and sip (when you get up at night use as little light as possible, none if you can get away with it, I use the light in my oven.
• sit up and do 15 minutes of meditation (my favourite) and then just snuggle back down again and allow yourself to drift off
• body temperature is really important for sleep, our core temperature must cool for us to be able to sleep, so stick a foot out or both hands and Chill!

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