Interrupted sleep affects memory

We spend a third of our lives asleep, if we deprive our body of this rest, we can have as a result death . One of the evidences that supports the idea of dream as restorative paper on the brain, is that the deprivation of it, affects cognitive processes such as: memory , learning, attention.

Regardless of the total amount of dream or the intensity of it, a minimum interruption is crucial for theconsolidation of memory.

For the whole day we accumulate information which we need to process, since there are some things that we need to "lock up" to keep them as permanent memories ; this process occurs during the dream deep.

Studies have shown that the brain uses rest hours to evaluate the events of the day and decide which ones you are going to keep. So anything that affects this process will have an effect to a greater or lesser degree.

 

Dream and memory go hand in hand

The above was verified with an investigation carried out in the Stanford University , United States, where the effect of the fragmented dream in mice.

It was found that the animals that had asleep in a fragmented way, they had more trouble recognizing familiar objects than those who slept without distraction.

After interrupting them dream by means of flashes of light, the mice were placed in a box with two objects, one of which they had previously explored.

It was expected that the mice would naturally spend more time examining the new object, and those that had been able to sleep without interruptions they did it; however, those who had had a fragmented dream they were equally interested in both objects, which suggests, say the scientists, that their memory was affected.

Evidence has been shown that people suffering from apnea during sleep have particular problems in saving permanent memories ; On the other hand it is known that those suffering from Alzheimer's also present problems to sleep, currently scientists are applying themselves to understand this relationship.

No doubt there is something important here, but it has not yet been determined if it is the brain degeneration the one that causes the bad dream or is this one that is helping to the degradation of the organ.

The function of the dream remains a great unknown!


Video Medicine: The 5 Causes of Sleep Problems (March 2024).