New research has found that a stress transmitter wakes your brain more than 100 times a night and it’s perfectly normal.
Dr. Samuel Gurevich, a pulmonologist and sleep specialist with Cleveland Clinic Weston, said it all has to do with the neurotransmitter noradrenaline, which is responsible for the “fight or flight” response.
Noradrenaline triggers brain activity that we don’t even notice, but which is vital for a number of reasons.
“And in fact what this research showed, it added to a large body of research that was already there, it confirmed that the brain is a very active organ, including when we sleep. This is what helps us remember, this is what gives us our energy back in the morning, this is what calms our nerves in the morning. So all the things that go along with good sleep, it’s not just because the brain shuts off when we sleep, it’s actually quite active but just in a very different way,” he said.
According to Gurevich, “this is not to be confused with consciously waking up during the night, which, depending on frequency and duration, can be harmful to our brain and overall health.”
Also in today’s health news, a host of different retinal exams are being evaluated as potential Alzheimer’s screening methods.
One approach aims to search for signs of beta-amyloid, which forms damaging plaques in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s.
Studies suggest this protein fragment also accumulates in the retina and researchers have found that it may be detectable there before the onset of symptoms.
In an ongoing trial of an Alzheimer’s drug at the University of California San Diego, researchers are now screening the retinas of a number of patients before and after treatment to illuminate retinal amyloid changes and see if the treatment reduces its levels.
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Dr. Samuel Gurevich, a pulmonologist and sleep specialist with Cleveland Clinic Weston, said it all has to do with the neurotransmitter noradrenaline, which is responsible for the “fight or flight” response.
Noradrenaline triggers brain activity that we don’t even notice, but which is vital for a number of reasons.
“And in fact what this research showed, it added to a large body of research that was already there, it confirmed that the brain is a very active organ, including when we sleep. This is what helps us remember, this is what gives us our energy back in the morning, this is what calms our nerves in the morning. So all the things that go along with good sleep, it’s not just because the brain shuts off when we sleep, it’s actually quite active but just in a very different way,” he said.
According to Gurevich, “this is not to be confused with consciously waking up during the night, which, depending on frequency and duration, can be harmful to our brain and overall health.”
Also in today’s health news, a host of different retinal exams are being evaluated as potential Alzheimer’s screening methods.
One approach aims to search for signs of beta-amyloid, which forms damaging plaques in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s.
Studies suggest this protein fragment also accumulates in the retina and researchers have found that it may be detectable there before the onset of symptoms.
In an ongoing trial of an Alzheimer’s drug at the University of California San Diego, researchers are now screening the retinas of a number of patients before and after treatment to illuminate retinal amyloid changes and see if the treatment reduces its levels.
Continue reading...
