Scott Campbell

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Nap Today, Perform Better Tomorrow

Copyright (c) 2007 BrainFit For Life

A couple of new reports came out this week addressing sleep in our culture. Everyone knows that they feel a little cranky when they dont get enough sleep. Its therefore no surprise that sleep affects your mood. What may be surprising, though, is that scientists know very little about why thats true.

We understand quite a bit about why sleep disrupts your immune function, your metabolism and your ability to learn and remember things. I have discussed each of these in past articles. But we dont know much about how sleep regulates mood. An interesting new study published in Current Biology by Michael Walker, sheds some light on this subject.

A loss of reason

A complex brain circuit that involves both higher thinking centers and reactive centers controls your emotions. Its the higher thinking centers that separate us from other animals. We have the ability (although we dont always use it) to evaluate our responses thoughtfully, before just reacting impulsively.

In the new study, volunteers were either deprived of a good nights sleep or allowed to sleep normally. Researchers then looked at both their higher thinking and their reactive brain centers after presenting them with some emotionally negative images to stir their reactions.

They found that specific reactive centers of the brain acted the same whether or not the volunteers had slept well the night before. But certain higher thinking centers responsible for keeping those reaction centers under control, were much less active in the sleep deprived group.

The interpretation of this is that our gut reactions are not really that affected by lack of sleep (at least in this situation) but our ability to reason and monitor those reactions is weakened, which can have all kinds of downstream consequences.

Is a longer workday productive?

Why is this important? Other studies show that we are getting far less sleep today than we did a century ago and throughout history. The advent of artificial light has extended the length of our daily productivity, but many argue that this is actually counter-productive. By not getting optimal sleep, we are decreasing our ability to function efficiently the next day, and actually getting less done.

In fact, another study just released shows exactly that. In this one, researchers, Patricia Murphy and Scott Campbell, showed that napping is actually productive. First of all, midday napping did not cause people to sleep less well at night, as many believe. Second, midday napping improved performance on math, decision-making and reaction-time tests. This increased performance was true after the nap and lasted all the way into the next day, following the nap.

Many of us are so busy that we steal hours from our sleep to attempt to get more done. But science argues that we are not getting more done this way. We are actually reducing our ability to be creative, make decisions, work efficiently and cooperate with other people. Perhaps a little more time invested in our rest could dramatically improve our career and personal relationships.

About the Author

Master Brain Fitness techniques for you and your family. Your Brain Fitness holds is the key to unlock your maximum potential. Dr. Simon Evans and Dr. Paul Burghardt at BrainFit For Life put together the right ingredients in right amount to create the recipe for success. Visit http://www.BrainFitForLife.com for FREE Brain Fitness resources.

What Is Your Favorite NBA Team And What Would Be Your Dream Team For Your Team?

My team is the L.A. Lakers:

My team is the L.A. Lakers too, but the roster would be...

PG: Earvin "Magic" Johnson
SG: Kobe Bryant
SF: James Worthy
PF: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
C: Wilt Chamberlain

Sixth Man: Jerry West

Bench:

-. George Mikan
-. Elgin Baylor
-. Karl Malone
-. Shaquille O'Neal
-. Derek Fisher
-. Byron Scott

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City Clerk Campbell running for secretary of state
Saying that city and town clerks are fed up with a “lack of communication” from Beacon Hill, Woburn City Clerk William Campbell, an attorney, former Woburn city council president and onetime state representative candidate, says he hopes that sentiment helps him unseat Secretary of State William Galvin, a Beacon Hill fixture running for a fifth term.

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