What Happens To Your Body And Brain If You Don't Get Sleep | The Human Body
Summary
TLDRIn this educational talk, Professor Matthew Walker from UC Berkeley discusses the critical role of sleep for brain health. He explains that sleep deprivation hinders memory formation and increases beta-amyloid protein, linked to Alzheimer's disease. Walker also outlines how lack of sleep affects testosterone levels, the immune system, and raises the risk of various cancers and cardiovascular issues. He concludes by emphasizing that after 16 hours of wakefulness, cognitive and physiological decline begins, underscoring the necessity of eight hours of sleep to counteract the effects of wakefulness.
Takeaways
- π€ Lack of sleep hinders the brain's ability to form new memories, as if the 'memory inbox' is closed.
- π§ Sleep deprivation leads to an increase in beta-amyloid, a toxic protein linked to Alzheimer's disease.
- π§ Deep sleep activates the brain's 'sewage system' to clear out beta-amyloid, reducing the risk of dementia.
- πΉ Reduced sleep in men can lower testosterone levels, effectively aging them by a decade in terms of virility.
- π‘οΈ Sleep deprivation weakens the immune system, reducing the number of natural killer cells that fight cancer.
- π« The World Health Organization classifies night shift work as a probable carcinogen due to its disruption of sleep patterns.
- π©Έ Insufficient sleep can elevate blood pressure and increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
- β° Daylight saving time, which involves losing an hour of sleep, is associated with a 24% increase in heart attacks the next day.
- π§ After 16 hours of wakefulness, cognitive and physiological functions begin to decline.
- π Being awake for 19-20 hours impairs mental capacity to the level of legal intoxication while driving.
Q & A
What is the role of sleep in memory formation according to Matthew Walker?
-Sleep is essential for the brain to make new memories. Without it, the brain's memory inbox shuts down, preventing the commitment of new experiences to memory.
How does a lack of sleep affect the development of beta-amyloid protein in the brain?
-Sleep deprivation leads to an increased development of beta-amyloid, a toxic protein associated with Alzheimer's disease, because deep sleep is when the brain's sewage system removes this protein.
What are the consequences of sleep deprivation on the reproductive system?
-Men who sleep only five to six hours a night have testosterone levels similar to someone 10 years older, indicating that lack of sleep can age one's virility by almost a decade.
How does sleep duration impact the immune system and cancer risk?
-A single night of 4 to 5 hours of sleep can reduce the number of natural killer cells, critical for fighting cancer, by 70%. Short sleep duration is linked to an increased risk of developing various forms of cancer.
Why did the World Health Organization classify nighttime shift work as a probable carcinogen?
-The World Health Organization classified nighttime shift work as a probable carcinogen due to the strong link between sleep disruption and an increased risk of cancer.
What impact does sleep have on the cardiovascular system?
-During deep sleep, the body experiences a natural decrease in heart rate and blood pressure. Insufficient sleep can lead to higher blood pressure and a 200% increased risk of a fatal heart attack or stroke.
What is the effect of daylight saving time on heart attacks according to the script?
-Losing one hour of sleep during daylight saving time in the spring is associated with a 24% increase in heart attacks the following day.
How long can a human typically stay awake before experiencing cognitive and physiological decline?
-After about 16 hours of wakefulness, cognitive and physiological deterioration begins to occur.
What is the mental capacity impairment equivalent to after being awake for 19 or 20 hours?
-After being awake for 19 or 20 hours, one's mental capacity is so impaired that it is equivalent to that of someone who is legally drunk.
How much sleep is recommended to repair the damage of wakefulness according to Matthew Walker?
-About eight hours of sleep is needed to repair the damage caused by wakefulness.
Outlines
π€ The Impact of Sleep on Memory and Alzheimer's
Matthew Walker, a professor of neuroscience and psychology at UC Berkeley, explains that sleep is crucial for the brain's ability to form new memories, as a lack of sleep can shut down the brain's 'memory inbox'. He also discusses how insufficient sleep leads to an accumulation of beta-amyloid, a toxic protein linked to Alzheimer's disease. Walker highlights that deep sleep activates the brain's 'sewage system' to clear out this protein, and that chronic sleep deprivation increases the risk of dementia.
Mindmap
Keywords
π‘Sleep deprivation
π‘Memory inbox
π‘Beta-amyloid
π‘Deep sleep
π‘Reproductive system
π‘Immune system
π‘Cancer
π‘Cardiovascular system
π‘Daylight savings time
π‘Recycle rate
Highlights
Sleep is essential for the brain to create new memories.
Lack of sleep can prevent the brain from committing new experiences to memory.
Sleep deprivation leads to an increased development of beta amyloid, a toxic protein associated with Alzheimer's disease.
Deep sleep is crucial for the brain's 'sewage system' to wash away beta amyloid.
Sleep deprivation can age men's testosterone levels by a decade.
A single night of 4-5 hours of sleep can reduce anti-cancer immune cells by 70%.
Short sleep duration is linked to an increased risk of developing various forms of cancer.
The World Health Organization classifies nighttime shift work as a probable carcinogen due to sleep disruption.
Deep sleep is necessary for the cardiovascular system to reboot, reducing blood pressure.
Sleep deprivation can lead to a 200% increased risk of fatal heart attack or stroke.
Daylight savings time demonstrates the impact of lost sleep on heart attacks.
After 16 hours of wakefulness, cognitive and physiological deterioration begins.
Being awake for 19-20 hours impairs mental capacity to the level of legal intoxication.
Eight hours of sleep are needed to repair the damage of wakefulness.
Wakefulness is akin to low-level brain damage.
Transcripts
[Music]
My name is Matthew Walker I am a
professor of neuroscience and psychology
at the University of California Berkeley
and I am the author of the book why we
sleep we certainly know that a lack of
sleep will actually prevent your brain
from being able to initially make new
memories so it's almost as though
without sleep the memory inbox of the
brain shuts down and you can't commit
new experiences to memory so those new
incoming informational emails are just
bounced and you end up feeling as though
you're a music you can't essentially
make and create those new memories we
also know that a lack of sleep will lead
to an increased development of a toxic
protein in the brain that is called beta
amyloid and that is associated with
Alzheimer's disease because it is during
deep sleep at night when a sewage system
within the brain actually kicks into
high gear and it starts to wash away
this toxic protein beta amyloid so if
you're not getting enough sleep each and
every night more of that Alzheimer's
related protein will build up the more
protein that builds up the greater your
risk of going on to develop dementia in
later life what are the effects of sleep
deprivation on the body well there are
many different effects firstly we know
that sleep deprivation affects the
reproductive system we know that men who
are sleeping just five to six hours a
night have a level of testosterone which
is that of someone 10 years their senior
so a lack of sleep will age you by
almost a decade in terms of that aspect
of virility and wellness we also know
that a lack of sleep impacts your immune
system so after just one night of 4 to 5
hours of sleep there is a 70% reduction
in critical anti cancer fighting immune
cells called natural killer cells and
that's the reason that we know that
short sleep duration predicts your
risk for developing numerous forms of
cancer and that list currently includes
cancer of the bowel cancer of the
prostate as well as cancer of the breast
in fact the link between a lack of sleep
and cancer is now so strong that
recently the World Health Organization
decided to classify any form of
nighttime shift work as a probable
carcinogen so in other words jobs that
may induce cancer because of a
disruption of your sleep wake rhythms we
also know that a lack of sleep impacts
your cardiovascular system because it is
during deep sleep at night that you
receive this most wonderful form of
effectively blood pressure medication
your heart rate drops your blood
pressure goes down if you're not getting
sufficient sleep you're not getting that
reboot of the cardiovascular system so
your blood pressure rises you have if
you're getting six hours of sleep or
less a 200% increased risk of having a
fatal heart attack or a stroke in your
lifetime there is a global experiment
that is performed on 1.6 billion people
twice a year and it's called daylight
savings time and we know that in the
spring when we lose one hour of sleep we
see a subsequent 24% increase in heart
attacks the following day another
question perhaps is what is the recycle
rate of a human being how long can we
actually last without sleep before we
start to see declines in your brain
function or even impairments within your
body and the answer seems to be about 16
hours of wakefulness
once you get past 16 hours of being
awake that's when we start to see mental
deterioration and physiological
deterioration in the body we know that
after you've been awake for 19 or 20
hours your mental capacity is so
impaired that you would be as deficient
to someone who is legally drunk behind
the wheel of a car so if you were to ask
me what is the recycle rate of a human
being it does seem to be about 16
and we need about eight hours of sleep
to repair the damage of wakefulness
wakefulness essentially is low-level
brain damaged
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