Disrupted Circadian Rhythms May Drive Anxiety and Exacerbate Brain Disorders

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https://neurosciencenews.com/anxiety-circadian-rhythm-10146/

Summary:
It has always been understood that disruptions in sleep are symptoms of neurological diseases, such as Alzheimer's or anxiety. However, research presented at the 2018 annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience indicates that there may in fact be a role reversal. Research shows the sleep disruption or deprivation, may actually be a factor in neurological diseases, rather than a symptom. Research on concussions demonstrates that the impact is worse after long periods of sleep deprivation.  Anxiety appears to be higher in sleep deprived people which produces the idea that deep sleep is needed to restore and calm the brain. Alzheimer's also seems to worsen due to neuro-inflammation caused by disrupted circadian rhythm in the brain cells. This research not only provides a clearer understanding of the role of sleep in health, but also suggests that possible treatments and prevention of neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's and anxiety can be found with sleep-focused therapies. These findings provide great headway for future research into treatments for neurological disorders.

Reflection:
After reading Brain Rules in physiological psychology which dedicated a chapter to the topic of sleep this aforementioned research has added to my new knowledge of the importance of sleep. John Medina writes in Brain Rules that attention, working memory, mood and motor dexterity are just some of the functions which can be affected by lack of, or disruption of sleep. Lack of or differences in all of these functions tend to point to or can be considered effects of neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's. We have previously discussed that stress has a negative impact on a person's sleep cycles, causing them to lose sleep or display irregular sleep patterns. taking this new research into account it is possible that stress is onset by lack of sleep to begin with. Using the understanding of the physiological impact of  sleep deprivation on brain function it is possible to look at sleep as a treatment or prevention for problems such as stress and other neurological diseases. Anxiety specifically is a rampant problem among adolescents. In adolescent psychology we spoke in detail about the role anxiety plays in today's adolescents. However, with the new insights from this research it is possible to decrease a common issue such as anxiety, simply by having controlled sleep habits. This is a useful finding which should lead to continued study of sleep and how it is linked to neurological disease.

Reference:
Medina, J. (2014). Brain Rules. Seattle: Pear Press.

Wingfield, L. (2018, November 5). Disrupted circadian rhythms may drive anxiety and exacerbate brain disorders. Retrieved from neurosciencenews.com: https://neurosciencenews.com/anxiety-circadian-rhythm-10146/

Comments

  1. UnknownNovember 15, 2018 at 10:53 PM

    I agree that sleep is a necessity which we take for granted. in class we talked about how cerebrospinal fluid is passed through ventricles in the brain to clear up toxins that have been gathered during the day. sleep deprivation could cause an increase in toxin build up that may heavily affect the function of the brain and cause mental dysfunctions. sleep deprivation also affects the prefrontal cortex which deals with making decisions and memory so its understandable that sleep deprivation can cause Alzheimers disease.

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  2. UnknownNovember 15, 2018 at 10:55 PM

    The importance of sleep is easily overlooked and I concur that poor sleep habits result in worse response to stressors, rather than simply being a consequence of stress. Specific to illness, lack of sleep is correlated with mood disorders as well, like depression and bipolar disorder. I learned in my Abnormal Psychology class, that bipolar disorder episodes can multiply from lack of sleep, because the circadian rhythms are unstable. A simple imbalance in sleeping patterns being enough to trigger an episode seems incredible, but it also reiterates the importance of good sleep habits. Also, I wonder, are young adults most vulnerable to neurological issues because they usually lack the most sleep, due to the stress of college and trying to decide careers?

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