The more we learn about sleep, the more we understand how important it is for the proper functioning of our brain.. We even know that lack of adequate sleep can increase your risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.. The results of recent scientific studies have confirmed this theory, and this should be a sobering shower for anyone who regularly lacks sleep, according to Pannochka, an online publication for girls and women from 14 to 35 years old.. net The University of Boston research team, led by Laura Lewis, was interested in the results of experiments linking lack of sleep with an increased risk of Alzheimer's disease, and decided to find out the mechanism of this effect. Curiously, the experiment consisted of volunteers arriving at the lab late in the evening after not sleeping the previous night (to make it easier for them to fall asleep in the MRI machine). As a result, researchers have unraveled the mystery of why sleep-deprived people face an increased risk of neurodegenerative diseases..

A good night's sleep consists of several phases.. First, when we fall asleep, the light sleep phase begins, after that we move on to the deep sleep phase, and finally to the REM sleep phase, manifested, among other things, by rapid eye movements under the closed eyelids (the phase during which we dream. That is why we most often see dreams in the morning, immediately before waking up..

The researchers found that the magical process they were so persistently looking for traces occurs during the deep sleep phase.. Their observations showed that during this phase, brain neurons switch into a synchronous mode of operation (which does not happen during wakefulness).. Neurons turn on and off at once, like tiny light bulbs, and when they turn off, the brain begins to need much less oxygen than usual (just like turning off the light in the house, we significantly reduce energy consumption).

As the brain begins to need less oxygen, the volume of blood entering the brain is reduced, which allows the entry of cerebrospinal fluid, which " They accumulate in the brain during wakefulness and lead to an increased risk of Alzheimer's disease over time.. As it turned out, the phase of deep sleep is accompanied by repeated “tides” of cerebrospinal fluid, either filling the brain or receding, each time washing out toxins from it - almost like in a washing machine..

The only way to activate this process is to go into deep sleep, and this transition, in turn, does not occur until a few hours after falling asleep - this phase cannot be entered during daytime naps (however, daytime sleep should not be discounted either, since.

In fact, the fact that lack of sleep makes you dumber and slower is less important.. And the fact that without sleep, you become gloomier and more irritable, too.. All this is temporary, and all this can be fixed - say, by getting a good night's sleep on the weekend.. But with Alzheimer's disease, alas, a completely different story....

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