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  • Sleep and its effects

    We all know sleep to be important, but what makes it so vital? Other than hormonal responses, what physical affects are gained through sleep? I'd like to compartmentalize the mental effects from the physical effects. I'd like to define mental primarily with the brain chemicals involved with sleep. Is it safe to say that most of the physical benefits of sleep such as growth hormone release, cortisol, etc come from the brain and its functions?

    So from this, can we conclude that the only thing that needs sleep are our brains?

    But mainly, how does the brain "rest"?






    The above link is on sleep dep studies. Not exactly what I'm looking for, but interesting none the less.
    Becoming what I've dreamed about.

  • #2
    i know that rest is important, from a totally non medical point of view, when your body rests, it has time to heal and other stuff.

    i was wondering how long it takes for a person to die of sleep deprivation, kinda twisted, i found something here (the first link i found after i seached death by sleep deprivation)




    http://www.deeperwants.com/cul1/home...es/001284.html


    kind of puts a range on the subject at least.

    btw, i wonder how they kill an army ant by sleep deprivation, must be some pretty small toothpicks they use to hold their eyes open...
    Last edited by master splinter; 02-20-2007, 03:23 AM.
    "Life is a run. In attack we run, in defense we run. When you can no longer run, time to die" - Shichiroji "Seven samurai"

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    • #3
      Interesting...lol at the comments, "I'm going on my 3rd day of no sleep, going for 12 days with 0 sleep."

      Hahah, wtf

      But it brings up a point -- we share, among most of the other animals, a commonality of sleep. Obviously, the action is the same, but are they sleeping the same way? They are sleeping for the same purpose, display the same waking patterns, etc...it would make sense that what causes us to become rested is similar for them, too. So the question at hand is, what occurs during sleep besides the obvious "rest"? Is there a chemical release? A chemical balancing act?

      I'm aware that studies on sleeping have yielded information about brain waves like alpha, beta, and gamma, but is there more of a root cause, rather than a side phenomenon?
      Becoming what I've dreamed about.

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      • #4
        Studies in the US Armed Forces (or studies evaluated by them) found that death can occur from sleep deprivation after about ten days or so, sometimes more, sometimes less. It does eventually wreak havoc on your body, your immune system, your psyche, your various hormonal levels, your bodily functions, including muscular strength. This was important to them because of their special forces training, which, in some cases, they kept their soldiers awake for seven days.

        Body repair, neuronal synapse formation, balancing of neurochemical agents, cycling of various necessary hormones all take place during sleep.
        Experienced Community organizer. Yeah, let's choose him to run the free world. It will be historic. What could possibly go wrong...

        "You're just a jaded cynical mother****er...." Jeffpeg

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        • #5
          I know someone who's currently in the Army and was deprived of sleep for seven days, and as far as I know, he's not even special forces. But I don't know him that well, so I guess he could be.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by doc

            Body repair, neuronal synapse formation, balancing of neurochemical agents, cycling of various necessary hormones all take place during sleep.

            I'm really interested in this part, primarily the balancing of chemicals. Do the rest of these -- body repair, synaptic formation, and hormone cycling -- result from the balacing of chemicals within the brain? Can we reduce sleep to one root such as neurochemical balancing?
            Becoming what I've dreamed about.

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            • #7
              No, because muscle, skin, tendon, and other organ tissue repair (probably) have little to do with neurochemical changes in the brain. These are localized events; resting of some of those tissues enable further repair to occur.
              Experienced Community organizer. Yeah, let's choose him to run the free world. It will be historic. What could possibly go wrong...

              "You're just a jaded cynical mother****er...." Jeffpeg

              (more comments in my User Profile)
              russbo.com


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              • #8
                Drugs like crystal meth affect you in this way. After the drug has taken it's course and you have been up for days you "crash" which means you sleep for a day or days. I was reading somewhere that your body uses up epinephrine and by sleeping you gain this back...so what is epinephrine? well he's a site to tell you more.

                So it's another word for adrenaline (according to wikipedia). So you are basically using up your adrenal supply by staying up. Why is that bad? I know its bad but why...Doc?
                "What is barely legal?" - Ali G

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                • #9
                  Doc, isn't sitting laying down, or just relaxing the same for the muscles and what not?

                  In sleep, growth hormone and other repairing stuff is increased, correct? Is this not due to brain chemicals? We've seen that brain activity is still going on during sleep, so it can't be that if the brain were to shut off, the body would repair. Are the chemicals involved with "telling" the body to repair, or is it something else entirely?

                  It's come to my attention that serotonin is the mediator of deep sleep, or sleep in general. Do some sleep aids (the ones that aren't alcohol based) regulate the chemicals involved with sleep?
                  Becoming what I've dreamed about.

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by doc
                    Body repair, neuronal synapse formation, balancing of neurochemical agents, cycling of various necessary hormones all take place during sleep.
                    Can this not happen when we're awake? If not, what's the main difference between our awake state and sleep state that prevents/inhibits it?

                    Also, recently I spoke to someone who mentioned that our sleep cycles (is it R.E.M. sleep and "Alpha" sleep?) work on a 2 hour basis. Hence if you were to get woken up at the end of a cycle you'd feel quite refreshed, but if you were to get woken up during the middle of a cycle (presumably the R.E.M. phase) you'd feel like crap.

                    I know that sometimes when I've been woken in the middle of the night I feel great. But other times I feel like utter s***. The above theory would account for the differences, but I haven't come across and evidence for it yet (tbh haven't done a thorough search yet either). Anyone able to shed any light on this?
                    Don't trouble trouble until trouble troubles you.

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                    • #11
                      My kung fu master told me the same thing about sleep cycles, so I validate the 2 hour mark.

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                      • #12
                        Would'nt the muscles and repair of muscles have to do with the nervous system and the spine, more than chemical changesinthe brain?

                        which also makes me wonder, what is it that sustains maintains and directs cell growth. i dont think modernmedicine knows the answer to that.
                        "Life is a run. In attack we run, in defense we run. When you can no longer run, time to die" - Shichiroji "Seven samurai"

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by master splinter
                          Would'nt the muscles and repair of muscles have to do with the nervous system and the spine, more than chemical changesinthe brain?
                          Not really, muscle repair is more in the muscular system. But neurons need repair/maintainence as well.

                          What I know is that muscle and nervous tissue more or less is active as long as you're alive. However, hormones that are released/increased during sleep help boost this. I wanted to know if the release of these bodily hormones are a direct or indirect result of neurochemical changes going on in the brain in sleep.

                          This question is based off the fact that the brain needs to tell the various glands to release hormones. Since chemicals regulate sleep, do they not also indirectly regulate hormone production?
                          Becoming what I've dreamed about.

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                          • #14
                            I think I know where he's going with this.

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                            • #15
                              it probably does, thats pretty much how the brain works, neurons recieve stimuli which in turn create chemicals. or somecrap like that.
                              "Life is a run. In attack we run, in defense we run. When you can no longer run, time to die" - Shichiroji "Seven samurai"

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