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Daengprok
Rinrada Daengprok

Dean Leonard

English Composition II 2V3

02 May 2021

Effects Of Sleep Deprivation On Humans Brain and Behaviors

Sleep, like eating, drinking, and breathing, is a basic human need. Like these other

needs, sleep is an essential component of maintaining good health and wellbeing in life.

Many people around the world are not having enough sleep as they are supposed to. Later,

they are diagnosed with sleep disorders, heart disease, depression, and memory loss because

of sleep insufficiency. Those issues can affect humans in several ways. To prevent those

unhealthy problems from occurring, people should get a sufficient amount of healthy and

restorative sleep. 

How does sleep work? It is essential to know about the sleep cycle. According to

Biswas-Diener and Teeny research there are two different kinds of sleep. First kind of sleep

is known as non-rapid eye movement or NREM. This first kind of sleep is composed of

three stages. The first stage is when people are falling asleep. Secondly, there is the stage of

light sleep. This stage makes up about 55% of all rest. The last stage is the N3 stage, making

up between 20-15% of all sleep. The second type of sleep is known as a rapid eye movement

or REM. Rapid eye movement is a characteristic of REM sleep. Surprisingly, this stage is

similar to wakefulness in terms of brain function. The brain waves are slower than they are

during other periods. It also associates with dreaming, which accounts for around 20% of all

sleep.
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After knowing about the sleep cycle, it is also essential to know about sleep disorders.

The American Sleep Disorders Association published the first sleep disorder classification

scheme in 1979. Over the last four decades, our experience and awareness of sleep hygiene

have grown. More than 100 distinct sleep disorders have been established, and modern

classifications use diverse methodologies to classify these disorders based on causes,

symptoms, and physiological factors (Pacheco).

Sleep deprivation has numerous adverse effects on physical health. The first

consequence is cardiovascular disease. According to Gardner’s studies a lack of sleep has

been linked to hypertension in multiple studies. While determining directionality is a difficult

task, the majority of these experiments were longitudinal. A meta-analysis of these

longitudinal studies revealed that a habitual short sleep period is associated with a 20%

increased risk of hypertension compared to average sleep duration. Short sleepers have a

higher 24-hour blood pressure than long sleepers, according to other studies. Short sleep has

also been linked to hypercholesterolemia and an increased risk of atherosclerosis in other

trials. There is some evidence that chronic sleep deprivation may harm cardiovascular

disease factors in terms of cardiovascular endpoints. Still, meta-analyses indicate that short

rest is not commonly correlated with increased cardiovascular mortality.

The second physical effect is diabetes and excess weight. Numerous researchers have

discovered links between sleep time and adiposity, and diabetes. While most of these

findings are cross-sectional, excluding causality, several other prospective studies have

shown that a short sleep period is correlated with a gradual increase in weight gain.

Gardner’s study included individuals with a low prevalence of obesity, diverse population
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studies, and studies in which the effectiveness of weight-loss interventions was hampered by

sleep and circadian influences. There seem to be some major caveats in this relationship.

First, this relationship is age-based, with younger adults having the best connections and

middle-aged adults with more U-shaped relationships. Additionally, race and ethnicity will

moderate this relationship, with non-Hispanic white and black/African American adults

having stronger sleep-obesity links.

Third, lack of sleep has an effect on the immune system. Despite the fact that

complete sleep deprivation is shown to stimulate non-specific innate immunity and increase

specific immune cytokines (IL-6, TNF) in good healthy young people. The possible effect of

prolonged sleep loss on immune responses has received little consideration. While the effect

of sleep deprivation on cellular and humoral immune responses remains unknown, it has

been shown to reduce the production of antibodies in response to vaccination. Antibody titers

for influenza were reduced by more than 50% ten days after vaccination, according to one

report. People who were injected directly after six nights of sleep limited to four hours a

night were contrasted with those who were immunized after a habitual sleep period. Three to

four weeks after injection, antibody levels did not vary between the two classes. An

additional, study found that restricting sleep to 4 hours a night for ten nights reduced the

fever response to an endotoxin (E. coli) danger. Sleep deprivation affects the vaccine's acute

immune response and reduces the febrile response to an endotoxin warning, according to

these two minor findings (Banks and Dinges).

Another idea that several researchers argue about is the impact on mental health.

Harvard Health Publishing states that Americans are notoriously sleep deprived, but those
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suffering from mental illnesses are far more likely to be yawning or groggy during the day.

Chronic sleep disorders impact fifty percentage point to eighty percentage point of patients in

a traditional medical practice, compared to ten percentage to eighteen percentage people in

the general U.S. population. Sleep issues are most frequent in people suffering from anxiety,

depression, bipolar disorder, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Khemka et al study proves that people with a lack of sleep develop more mental

health issues comparing people who have enough sleep. Poor sleep is among the most

widely understood problems for teenagers and young adults who live in a world where

academic tests and social interests cause them to sleep less. The school or college experience

is precious in providing young adults with a situation where they can acquire the skills,

knowledge, and ability to plan their path, become jobs and contribute to the general public.

However, due to rising education loans and high fees, this experience comes at a high cost,

and as a result, the school years must be as productive as possible.

Fig.1 This table shows the relationship between an average hour of sleep and anxiety

of college students (Khemka et al).

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 Based on the evidence presented above, researchers can infer that the average

number of hours of sleep affects mental health. An adult needs 7-9 hours of sleep a night

(Pacheco). As a result, those who sleep for more than 8 hours have less anxiety than those

who sleep for 6-8 hours. Many that sleep less than 6 hours a night are the most affected

(Khemka et al).

When people have combinations of physical health effects and mental health effects,

it can change behaviors. In Medic et al's study of 135 healthy children, children with

disrupted sleep performed poorly on neurobehavioral processing tests, especially those

children are especially associated with more complicated assignments, such as a consistency

evaluation and a symbol-digit placement exam. These children are labeled as having more

behavioral issues by their parents than those who slept all the time. Psychiatric symptoms,

psychological difficulties, externalizing symptoms, and self-harm habits have also been

identified.

Adolescents can change their behavior either due to physical health effects or mental

health effects. Sleep disruption harmed emotional health, academic grades, and risk-taking

behaviors, such as nicotine and drug usage, according to a situational of 76 studies on the

functional impact of sleep disruption in teenagers or young adults. In research exploring the

links between sleep and emotional health therapies, sleep disorder was related to the

emergence of new beginning of insufficient mental health status, isolation, concern, sadness,

and depression. In a research of 1,629 teenagers, those who did better academically had early

bedtimes and more sleep on weekdays, as well as less severe daytime sleepiness, than those

who performed poorly (Medic et al).

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Fig.2 This table shows the relationship between an average hour of sleep and a

college student's academic performance (Khemka et al).

According to figure 2, the researchers conclude the students' academic success or

college GPA is affected by their average number of hours of healthy sleep. According to

different reports, the recommended total of sleep for an adult is 7-9 hours (Pacheco). Here,

researchers can see that students' CGPA increases as the total number of hours of sleep

increases until it reaches 6-8 hours of sleep, at which point the CGPA drops. Oversleeping

does this, resulting in low stamina, fear, and depression (Khemka et al).

When people's habits alter, it's possible that their social lives will suffer as a result.

Loneliness and social loneliness, according to Simon and Walker's research, raise mortality

risk and are linked to a variety of behavioral and physical comorbidities, including sleep

disturbances. Is it true, however, that a lack of sleep causes aloneness? Sleep deprivation

induces group isolation neuronal and behavioral phenotype depression, which can be

encountered by other people in culture and, in turn, makes those community members

lonesome.
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The in-laboratory research on Fig.3 below centered on behavioral approaches, after

one night of sleep deprivation, participants in both the in-person approach challenge and the

computer-controlled task variant introduced more significant social isolation from others. For

meaning, the size of these multi divide changes is roughly one-third of what has been

observed in highly asocial disorders like autism and schizophrenia. Previous research on

loneliness found that increases in social isolation as a result of sleep deprivation were not

statistically linked to improvements in anxiety or depression. Sleep deprivation had no effect

on mood or anxiety, but it did increase isolation (Simon and Walker).

Fig. 3 This boxplot shows an increase and decrease in sleep efficiency in each social

situation (Simon and Walker).

Another study by Simon and Walker states that the social and neural responses of

eighteen healthy young adults after a typical night's sleep and a sleepless night were studied;
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the participants watched video recordings of people heading toward them with neutral faces.

When the video's person was so close, they stopped the video and reported how close they let

the person come. Sleep-deprived participants, as anticipated, stopped the approaching

individual at a considerably greater distance – between eighteen and sixty percentage further

back – than well-rested participants. The brains of the participants were also scanned as they

watched footage of people meeting them. Researchers discovered increased activation in a

neuronal system known as the "close space network" in sleep-deprived brains, triggered

when the brain detects possible incoming human threats. 

Some people argue that the amount of sleep does not affect human brains and their

behaviors. Despite the fact that sleep facilitates declarative memory consolidation and sleep

deprivation impairs it, researchers found no significant differences in memory ability

between the S.R. and control groups (at either time level, for H.L. and NHL content). Despite

the fact that the results are surprising, they are consistent with those of Lo et al. They

discovered that sleep deprivation (adolescents getting as little as five hours of nocturnal

sleep) for four nights had no discernible impact on consolidation of declarative or procedural

memories. It is hypothesized that keeping the N3 stage cycle during sleep restriction

protected these people from memory loss. Despite a major TST decrease and all other sleep

levels, the S.R. group in the current retained their amount of N3 sleep during the 

maneuver period, supporting a previous finding., confirming a previous observation.

Considering that the number of teens, mainly those in East Asia, rest less than the

recommended eight–ten hours per night, this N3 sleep conservation is encouraging.

Another idea supporting the positive side of sleep loss is that it may lead to some

medical treatments. Sleep deprivation may contribute to the development of novel, one-of-a-
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kind antidepressant therapies. The only treatment that succeeds within 24 hours is sleep

deprivation. Many other existing treatments, such as drugs, psychotherapy, ECT, and light

therapy, typically require 2 to 8 weeks to function. As a result, the mechanism(s) of sleep

deprivation's antidepressant activity are unlikely to be the same as these traditional therapies

(Gillin et al).

In many body functions, sleep is essential for brain function and systemic physiology.

Sleep complications are sleep conditions that impair sleep stability. Sleep disorders are

widespread and include defects in the quantity and duration of sleep. Various factors, ranging

from lifestyle and environmental factors to sleep disorders and other medical conditions, may

induce sleep disruption. Sleep deprivation has serious short- and long-term health

consequences (Medic et al). Sleep is vital for human brains, and it is also crucial for human

behaviors. When people have poor sleep quality, it can lead to some other problems in the

future. It is that people should get a sufficient amount of healthy and restorative sleep. 
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Works Cited

Banks, Siobhan, and David F Dinges. "Behavioral and Physiological Consequences of Sleep

Restriction." Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine : JCSM: Official Publication of the

American Academy of Sleep Medicine, American Academy of Sleep Medicine, 15

August 2007, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1978335/. Accessed 05 Apr.

2021.

Biswas-Diener, Robert, and Jake Teeny. "States of Consciousness ." No, The Ohio State

University, 2021, nobaproject.com/modules/states-of-

consciousness. https://nobaproject.com/modules/states-of-consciousness Accessed 05

Apr. 2021.

Gillin, J.Christian, et al. "Sleep Deprivation as a Model Experimental Antidepressant

Treatment: Findings from Functional Brain Imaging." Depression & anxiety (1091-

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Grandner, Michael A. "Sleep, Health, and Society." Sleep Medicine Clinics, U.S. National

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2017, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6203594/. Accessed 05 Apr. 2021.

Harvard Health Publishing. “Sleep and Mental Health.” Harvard Health, 2019,

www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/sleep-and-mental-health. Accessed 05 Apr.

2021.
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Khemka, Pransh, et al. "Causes of Sleep Deprivation and Its Effect on Performance of

Students and Their Mental Health." Indian Journal of Health & Wellbeing, vol. 11,

no. 7–9, Sept. 2020, pp. 437–442. EBSCOhost,

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Lo, June C. et al. "Sleep Restriction Can Attenuate Prioritization Benefits on Declarative

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664–672. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1111/jsr.12424. https://eds-a-ebscohost-

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Pacheco, Danielle. "Sleep Disorders." Sleep Foundation, 08 March

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Simon, Eti, and Matthew P Walker. "Sleep Loss Causes Social Withdrawal and Loneliness."

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