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TUESDAY, Nov. 28 (HealthDay News) -- Stressful, sleepless nights may impair learning and memory retention, new research suggests.
Researchers say stressed-out rats kept up for three days straight failed to produce adequate new cells in the brain's hippocampus -- an area thought necessary for learning and memory.
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"The stressful nature of sleep deprivation exerts negative effects on the hippocampus," concluded a team led by Elizabeth Gould, a professor of psychology at Princeton University in Princeton, N.J.
Her team published the findings in the Nov. 27 early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Gould's group already knew that extended sleep deprivation is a strong stressor for the brain. In this new study, they wondered if the stress hormone corticosterone might play a role in sleep deprivation's effects on new brain cell production.
In the experiment, rats were placed on a circular metal platform suspended just above water in a plastic container. Falling asleep caused the animals to fall into the water -- adding heightened stress to the sleep-deprivation mix.
The researchers found that after three days of this type of stressful sleep deprivation, the rats' brains showed elevated levels of corticosterone. Higher levels of the hormone were associated with a significant reduction in the number of new brain cells produced in the rat's hippocampus.
To double-check that link, the researchers repeated the experiments in rats that had had their hormone-producing adrenal glands surgically removed. In these animals, brain-cell production continued as usual, even after similar sleep-deprivation experiments.
These results suggested that increases in levels of the stress hormone account for impaired cell production in sleep-deprived brains.
One expert isn't sure whether the effect seen in this study is transferable to people, however.
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