Nerdy Science Blog

A study was conducted at Clinical Research Centre of the University of Surrey to understand the sleeping time difference of healthy adults.  The study involved young adults (age 20 to 30 years), middle-aged adults (40 to 55 years) and older adults (66 to 83 years) without sleep disorders.  Researchers found that the older healthy adults are, the less time they sleep.  It was found that the sleep need of healthy adults decreased significantly with increasing age.  Older adults sleep 20 minutes less than middle-aged adults, whereas middle-aged adults sleep 23 minutes less than young adults.  The scientists conclude that older adults who are sleepy during daytime are not normal, and hope the findings can change the existing insomnia treatment to older people.  The study is published in Feb 1 journal SLEEP.

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The giraffe (Giraffa camilopardalis) is the tallest land animal in the world. Interestingly, it is also one of few animals which require minimal amounts of sleep (average 1.9 hours of total sleep time a day, compared to 7.75 hours for a human according to sources for BBC). Scientists have observed that giraffes sleep in short naps at nights, and usually sleep while standing (an ability shared by other ungulates, or hoofed animals). They rest their long necks on their hind legs, thus arching their long necks over their backs. They may also rest with their necks down at nights. When entering the phase of REM sleep (Rapid Eye Movement), giraffes must lie down on the ground (in a state of recumbency) to prevent from collapsing, as REM sleep causes muscular atony.
The sleeping behavior of eight giraffes in captivity at a zoo was observed for 152 nights by by Tobler and Schwierin (2003), and it was found that their timing for sleep is fragmented. The giraffes slept in intervals of 6 – 35 minutes, with older giraffes sleeping more while standing than lying down. If they had napped in the day, the giraffes showed an increase in sleeping while standing at nights. Their main sleeping hours were between 2000 and 0700 hours. Their daily total sleeping times were also quite constant, and not dependent on the age of the giraffes.
References:
Tobler, I. and Schwierin, B. (2003). Behavioural sleep in the giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) in a zoological garden. Journal of Sleep Research, 5 (1): 21 – 32.

Neuroscientists from the University of Pennsylvania, University of Glasgow and University of Toronto found that lack of sleep cause people to be forgetful. The neuroscientists study mice and humans and found that sleep deprivation disrupts a specific molecule in the brain’s memory circuitry (hippocampus), which cause the interruption of the storage of episodic memories. Episodic memories are information about who, what, when, and where.

The neuroscientists believes the long-term potentiation (LTP) is the strengthening of connection between neurons that underlies memory. The stimulation of LTP in the brain requires the molecule cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP), which is a molecular messenger involving in regulating activity of memory formation genes by passing signals between proteins. Sleep-deprived mice had 50% less cAMP in their brain cells compared to well-rested mice. The scientists also noticed increased amount of PDE4A5, a type of phosphodiesterase (PDE) enzyme that degrades cAMP, in sleep-deprived mice.

The findings provide a possibility to develop drug that knock out PDE4A5 to enhance the memories of sleepyheads. The results were published in Nature on 22th October 2009. The authors are Christopher G. Vecsey, George S. Baillie, Devan Jaganath, Robbert Havekes, Andrew Daniels, Mathieu Wimmer, Ted Huang, Kim M. Brown, Xiang-Yao Li, Giannina Descalzi, Susan S. Kim, Tao Chen, Yu-Ze Shang, Min Zhuo, Miles D. Houslay, and Ted Abel.

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Do you really think that sharing a bed can boost your relationship with your love one?

One study found that couples who shared a bed suffered 50% more sleep disturbances.  Dr Neil Stanley, a sleep specialist at the University of Surrey, told the British Science Festival that people should make marital bed a place for sexual congress instead of sleeping, just like what ancient Rome did.  This prevents couples from getting poor sleep that was to depression, heart disease, strokes, lung disorders, traffic and industrial accidents, and divorce.

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“Resting to walk a longer distance,” is a Chinese proverb.  It has the same meaning as English proverb “after dinner sit a while, after supper walk a mile.”  This ‘resting’ philosophy has been proved by a recent study presented at the American Association for Cancer Research’s Seventh Annual International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research.

The study showed that exercise is important in reducing women’s cancer risk, and sleeping itself is also essential in prevention.  The lead author, James McClain, who is also cancer prevention fellow at the National Cancer Institute said that consistent exercise may alter hormone levels, immune function, and body weight to prevent cancers, including breast and colon cancers.  The study focused on the connection between physical activity energy expenditure (PAEE), sleep duration, and risk of beast and colon cancers.  The study started in 1998, following 5968 women who are at least 18 years through the Washington County Cancer Registry and Maryland State Cancer Registry.  The study showed that women slept less than seven hours a day had higher cancer risk.  The link between physical activity and sleeping is not clear yet.  Researchers will investigate the potential mechanisms involved in cancer prevention, and also assess the effect of insufficient and prolonged sleep duration.

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Next monday is my new semester. It’s already my final year. Time flies like arrow, and fruit flies like banana.

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Physorg.com:

Arnetz, who spoke to AFP in a telephone interview from the United States, said he and a team of researchers from Sweden’s Karolinska Institute and Wayne State University in Michigan had found that mobile phone radiation appeared to cause insomnia, headaches and concentration difficulties.

Over a period of 18 months, the scientists studied 35 men and 36 women between the ages of 18 and 45, intermittently exposing some to 884 MHz wireless signals, the equivalent of the radiation received when talking on a cell phone.

Conclusion: Use Home Phone!

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I confess, I watch TV and online before I sleep.

Nearly half of the respondents associated their lack of sleep with electronic media use before bedtime. Those reporting longer electronic media use were also more likely to report insufficient sleep.

But many lecturers are boring, you can’t deny that. I notice that even though some lecturers present in an attractive way, but their voices are just dull.