It has been a while since I have spoken about sleep, but I think it is worth revisiting. I guess it is because I am currently experiencing lack of sleep symptoms right now. I thought it is time for a new challenge. I will try my best to increase the amount of sleep over the next week and report to you in next weeks blog.
Throughout this week I have been getting up early every day for either work or early morning exercise sessions. I have found that it has made me quite irritable on the 7th day. Lately I have been able to cope with what life throws at me quite well, but not today.
On weekends I have been in the habit of having short naps to compensate for my sleep, but that was not possible today with my busy Sunday. I also went to the doctor for a routine visit and my blood pressure was in the normal range but a little higher than what it normally is.
Too much Netflix, playing with my phone, YouTube; these distractions in my life could be reduced in order to enjoy a better nights sleep. Maybe a bit of yoga and or breathing exercises could also help to increase the quality of my sleep also.
I thought it is worth introducing the concept of Sleep Debt; it is basically the accumulation of may days of sleep deprivation. It sounds like I may have it; albeit, not so severe. In the next paragraph I will attempt to regurgitate some short but interesting neuroscience on sleep debt.
Research was conducted using magnetic resonance imaging on eighteen men and it was found that the medial prefrontal cortex’ s (a part of the brain that has a role in regulating numerous cognitive functions) capacity to suppress the amygdala (the brains center for emotions, emotional behavior, and motivation) was significantly decreased due to sleep debt. The imaging was followed up by self-reported mood surveys to confirm the data.
I won’t have any weird wires stuck on my head, or any mris taken on me, but I will increase my hours of sleep and tell you the results next week. Stay tuned.
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