MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'brain sleep'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:48:36 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4893350&cid=t_103796_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F008119.html Guys, if you want to keep up your testosterone then get enough sleep. Cutting back on sleep drastically reduces a healthy young man's testosterone levels, according to a study published in the June 1 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). Eve Van Cauter, PhD, professor in medicine and director of the study, found that men who slept less than five hours a night for one week in a laboratory had significantly lower levels of testosterone than when they had a full night's sleep. Low testosterone has a host of negative consequences for young men, and not just in sexual behavior and reproduction. It is critical in building strength and muscle mass, and bone density. "Low testosterone... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4893350 Fri, 03 Jun 2011 23:00:00 +0100 4893350 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4794947&cid=t_103796_122_f&fid=36582&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FSharpBrains%2F%7E3%2FN2E6PwNshHU%2F What’s going on in the brain while we sleep? A lot! Specifically, processes supporting the consolidation of memories. This Dana Foundation article reviews fascinating studies in which memories are reactivated during sleep thanks to either an odor or an auditory cue. Results suggest that such reactivation leads to better memory: reactivation during slow-wave sleep supports the transfer of the memory representation from the hippocampus to long-term storage in the neocortex, and also strengthens it one possible application of such findings could be to overwrite unwanted traumatic memories another application would be to use the deep-sleep reactivation to enhance memories in students, or in elderly people with declining memory skills. More evidence then that a good night sleep should be part... SharpBrains blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4794947 Fri, 06 May 2011 15:32:12 +0100 4794947 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4464596&cid=t_103796_122_f&fid=36582&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FSharpBrains%2F%7E3%2FwejuIjZ-Z6Y%2F Both children and adults need a good night sleep to function at their best. A recent study, summarized here, suggests that this is true for babies too: How much sleep a 12 month old baby gets can influence the development of his/her executive functions. Executive functions, supported by the frontal lobes of the brain, are often considered as indicators of children’s likelihood of succeeding in school. They involve decision-making, problem-solving, plan­ning, inhibit­ing, as well as other high-level func­tions (social behav­ior, emo­tional con­trol, work­ing mem­ory, etc.). Researchers asked parents to complete three-day sleep journals when their infants were 12 and 18 months.[…] three variables were identified: total hours of sleep, percentage of total sleep occurring between 7... SharpBrains blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4464596 Fri, 11 Feb 2011 20:16:50 +0100 4464596 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4036609&cid=t_103796_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F007546.html The rod cells in the eye (used for seeing black and white under low light conditions) are the only eye cell type involved in controlling the body's circadian rhythm. But a Johns Hopkins biologist – working in collaboration with scientists at the University of Southern California and Cornell University -- unlocked part of that mystery recently. Their study found that rod cells – one of three kinds of exquisitely photosensitive cells found in the retina of the eye – are the only ones responsible for "setting" those clocks in low light conditions. What's more, the study found that rods – which take their name from their cylindrical shape – also contribute (along with cones and other retinal cells) to setting... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4036609 Mon, 04 Oct 2010 23:00:00 +0100 4036609 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3812935&cid=t_103796_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F007378.html 10 hours of sleep isn't enough to recharge your brain after 5 days of sleep deficit. DARIEN, Ill. – A study in the Aug. 1 issue of the journal Sleep suggests that a dose of extra sleep on the weekend may be good medicine for adults who repeatedly stay up too late or wake up too early during the workweek. However, even a night of 10 hours in bed may not be enough to cure the negative effects of chronic sleep restriction. Results show that neurobehavioral impairments such as increased lapses of attention and delayed reaction times accumulated across a period of five days when sleep was restricted to less than four hours per night. Behavioral, subjective and physiological measures... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3812935 Sun, 01 Aug 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3812935 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3790660&cid=t_103796_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F007359.html Delayed nocturnal melatonin makes kids stay up too late and then become sleepy the next day. Troy, NY – In the spring, later sunset and extended daylight exposure delay bedtimes in teenagers, according to researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's Lighting Research Center (LRC). "Biologically, this increased exposure to early evening light in the spring delays the onset of nocturnal melatonin, a hormone that indicates to the body when it's nighttime," explains Mariana Figueiro, Ph.D., associate professor. "This extended exposure adds to the difficulties teens have falling asleep at a reasonable hour." The sleep-deprived brats become moody. How about totally covering the windows in their bedrooms to block out all light in the evening? Over time when coupled with having to... (Source... FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3790660 Mon, 26 Jul 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3790660 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3710525&cid=t_103796_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F007290.html The energy molecule ATP surges in rat brains during the early stages of sleep. Washington, DC — In the initial stages of sleep, energy levels increase dramatically in brain regions found to be active during waking hours, according to new research in the June 30 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience. These results suggest that a surge of cellular energy may replenish brain processes needed to function normally while awake. A good night's rest has clear restorative benefits, but evidence of the actual biological processes that occur during sleep has been elusive. Radhika Basheer, PhD, and Robert McCarley, MD, of Boston V.A. Healthcare System and Harvard Medical School, proposed that brain energy levels are key to nightly restoration. As I... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3710525 Mon, 28 Jun 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3710525 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3652373&cid=t_103796_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F007242.html If you live near a highway, train tracks, or an airport consider moving. WESTCHESTER, IL – Nighttime noise from nearby road traffic, passing trains and overhead planes disturbs sleep and impairs morning performance, according to a research abstract that will be presented Tuesday, June 8, 2010, in San Antonio, Texas, at SLEEP 2010, the 24th annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies LLC. Results indicate that mean reaction time on a morning psychomotor vigilance task slowed significantly by 3.6 ms after exposure to recorded traffic noise during sleep, and the slowing of reaction times was directly and significantly related to increases in both the frequency and sound-pressure level of the nightly noise events. The sound of passing trains caused... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3652373 Wed, 09 Jun 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3652373 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3640979&cid=t_103796_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F007233.html Just 2 milliseconds of a light flash per minute boost alertness when you really ought to be sleeping. Results indicate that subjective sleepiness decreased and objective nighttime alertness improved after participants received a two-millisecond pulse of bright light once per minute for 60 minutes. Flash exposure, as compared with darkness, elicited significant improvement in self-rated alertness and a significant 57-millisecond improvement in median reaction time on the auditory Psychomotor Vigilance Test, compared with no significant improvement after 60 minutes of darkness. This was accompanied by significant changes in the faster frequencies of the EEG following exposure to the flashes. "We found it shocking that light exposure as brief as a few milliseconds could engender changes in al... FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3640979 Sun, 06 Jun 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3640979 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3640978&cid=t_103796_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F007235.html Trying to have sex while you are asleep is a sexual sleep disorder. Who knew? WESTCHESTER, IL – Sexsomnia was reported by almost eight percent of patients at a sleep disorders center and was more common in men than women, according to a research abstract that will be presented Monday, June 7, 2010, in San Antonio, Texas, at SLEEP 2010, the 24th annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies LLC. Results indicate that 7.6 percent of patients (63 of 832) at a sleep disorders center reported that they had initiated or engaged in sexual activity with a bed partner while asleep. The prevalence of reported sexsomnia was nearly three times higher in men (11 percent) than in women (four... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3640978 Sun, 06 Jun 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3640978 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3283499&cid=t_103796_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F006952.html Our technological civilization is depriving kids of the short wavelength light they need to produce enough melatonin. In the study just published in Neuroendocrinology Letters, Dr. Figueiro and LRC Director Dr. Mark Rea found that eleven 8th grade students who wore special glasses to prevent short-wavelength (blue) morning light from reaching their eyes experienced a 30-minute delay in sleep onset by the end of the 5-day study. If you want to go to bed later and wake up later then wear glasses that block the blue light frequencies in the morning. "If you remove blue light in the morning, it delays the onset of melatonin, the hormone that indicates to the body when it's nighttime," explains Dr. Figueiro. "Our study... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3283499 Wed, 17 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100 3283499 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2950710&cid=t_103796_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F006673.html The brain downshifts to simpler ways of processing information when lacking sleep. Westchester, Ill. —A study in the Nov.1 issue of the journal Sleep shows that sleep deprivation causes some people to shift from a more automatic, implicit process of information categorization (information-integration) to a more controlled, explicit process (rule-based). This use of rule-based strategies in a task in which information-integration strategies are optimal can lead to potentially devastating errors when quick and accurate categorization is fundamental to survival. The experimental subjects were West Point cadets. So they were at similar ages, pretty healthy, and smarter than the average population. The decay here is an average. I would be curious to know what the outliers looked like. Likely a... FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2950710 Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100 2950710 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2510361&cid=t_103796_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F006320.html Do you mentally function well when sleep-deprived? I personally make more spelling mistakes when writing blog posts after midnite. Given the right variant of the gene PER3 the human mind... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2510361 Tue, 23 Jun 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2510361 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2473245&cid=t_103796_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F006280.html TV is bad for your health. According to the authors of the study, Mathias Basner, MD, MS, MSc, and David F. Dinges, PhD, of the University of Pennsylvania School of... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2473245 Wed, 10 Jun 2009 04:00:00 +0100 2473245 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1564699&cid=t_103796_122_f&fid=36582&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FSharpBrains%2F%7E3%2F325439001%2F We are fans of the Brain Science Podcast series hosted by Ginger Campbell, so are pleased to announce that Dr. Campbell will start offering to SharpBrains readers, periodically, the highlights of her most interesting podcasts. Below, her first post. Enjoy! -----------  In a recent interview on the Brain Science Podcast, Dr. John Medina, author of Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School shared some of the practical implications of recent neuroscience research. We talked about the importance of exercise and sleep and we discussed why appreciating how our memory and attention systems really work could change how we run schools, businesses, and even our daily lives. For example, while adequate sleep is generally acknowledged to be essential to optimal... SharpBrains blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1564699 Thu, 03 Jul 2008 03:54:10 +0100 1564699 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1138091&cid=t_103796_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F004912.html How about a nap after an intense learning exercise to help form memories? In this new research, which was conducted by researchers at the University of Haifa in cooperation with... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1138091 Tue, 08 Jan 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1138091 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1033084&cid=t_103796_109_f&fid=35677&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FBrainBasedBusiness%2F%7E3%2F186052030%2Freshape_your_brain_while_you_s.html You may not be aware of important work your brain completes while you sleep. For instance … new research shows how people process recent experiences into long-term memories. How does it work? While you snooze … the brain replays your day's events … much faster than you actually experienced them.It’s how the brain organizes long-term recall  … according to Matthew Wilson … a neurobiologist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. Why play back events during sleep? This process ... allows your brain to transfer memories from short-term storage ... into longer-term storage areas. The magical shifts take place during deeper sleep cycles … and may even be linked to dreaming, we are told. What are business implications?1. Sle... BrainBasedBusiness blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1033084 Sat, 17 Nov 2007 00:28:11 +0100 1033084 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=977351&cid=t_103796_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F004711.html If I was king one of the things I'd do is abolish Daylight Savings Time (though I'd ban car lock and car alarm horn beeping first). In my view Daylight... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=977351 Wed, 24 Oct 2007 04:00:00 +0100 977351 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=781348&cid=t_103796_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F004455.html If you are prone to depression don't work the late night shift. WESTCHESTER, Ill. -- People who work rotating shifts have significantly lower levels of serotonin, a hormone and neurotransmitter... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=781348 Sun, 05 Aug 2007 04:00:00 +0100 781348 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=515180&cid=t_103796_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F004161.html If you use coffee to work a night shift then the coffee decrease the quality of your daytime recovery sleep. Montreal, October 2, 2006 -- A new study at the... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=515180 Sun, 01 Apr 2007 04:00:00 +0100 515180 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=482029&cid=t_103796_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F004131.html Whether you can function well lacking sleep in the middle of the night might come down to the length of your copies of the PERIOD3 gene. People are known to... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=482029 Sun, 18 Mar 2007 04:00:00 +0100 482029