In a previous article we looked at just how serious sleep deprivation can be to the physical and mental health of an individual. Extensive research helps us to further understand the need to take this problem seriously. If someone is unable to find relief through simple changes in behavior and/or natural medicine it may be necessary to seek the help of a professional health care provider.

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke has proven through studies that chronic sleep problems affect 40 million Americans every year and an average of 20 million to 30 million individuals will lose sleep on an occasional basis. Compound this with the knowledge that 22 million American citizens work night shifts or swing shifts which causes many disruptions with the body’s normal cycles in terms of sleep considerations. If allowed to worsen, these sleep disorders can evolve into full blown sleep deprivation which can cause problems with a person’s ability to function on the job; their ability to learn, remember and concentrate; their driving skills and personal relationships.

Research has proven that a consistent lack of sleep can affect a person’s cognitive functions including impaired memory, a slower reaction time, an inability to concentrate, a shorter attention span and a reduced ability to learn and process new information. Being too tired to learn can result in a lack of adequate performance at school or work for an individual. The brain has a difficult time when processing new information, when it is deprived of sleep, and research into this has yielded the result that the brain is the organ of the body that requires the greatest amount of sleep. Studies have shown that learning spatial tasks (such as remembering a set of instructions) greatly increases the production of new cells in the part of the brain known as the hippocampus. The brain cells in the hippocampus rely on the benefits of sleep to survive, and indeed thrive. The hippocampus consistently goes through a process called “neurogenesis” whereby it creates new brain cells throughout the life of an individual. When the hippocampus is involved in the learning of a new skill or task, neurogenesis takes place even quicker. It is adequate sleep that aids greatly in this process.

Researchers at Boston’s Harvard Medical School conducted a study in 2000 which added fuel to the argument that getting a good night’s sleep and learning are linked. They found that those who stay up late cramming the night before an exam and then lose sleep actually do worse on their marks than those who got a good night’s sleep the night before. The students’ ability to both learn and retain the information they had learned was thwarted because of missed zzz’s.

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