College is a time where sleep can be minimal. Whether it is
cramming for a big exam or choosing to hang out with friends, sleep can get
pushed aside for these social or necessary academic events. While humans
obviously need sleep to function and stay healthy, it’s not always our first
priority. This study grabbed my attention because of the lack of sleep that
comes with being in college and the insomnia problems within my own family. The
following is a summary of the study published this year in the journal, Neurology.
Researchers in Norway recruited 147 Norwegian citizens to
participate in this study. Participants were between the ages of 20 and 84 years
old. Researchers were testing whether poor sleeping habits correlated with
cortical atrophy. On their first visit, participants were given an MRI scan.
Then around 3.5 years later they were invited back for another MRI scan. At the
second visit, researchers administered a couple of questionnaires to
participants such as the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Inventory and a physical
activity questionnaire. Their findings were interesting. Researchers found that
poor sleep quality, which includes sleep latency, duration, and efficiency,
does in fact correlate with cortical atrophy. The right superior frontal lobe decreased
in size and the rate of atrophy increased in the frontal, temporal, and
parietal lobes. The rate of atrophy increased with age as well with adults over
sixty being more susceptible. The amount of physical activity of an individual
had no effect on the results of the study.
The question that researchers still have is what causes
what. A correlation between these two
variables was established, not a cause and effect relationship. Researchers are
interested in knowing if brain atrophy is causing poor sleep quality, poor
sleep quality is causing brain atrophy, or if there is a third, confounding
variable. For example, psychiatric or neurodegenerative diseases can have an
effect. It would be interesting to see further research conducted on this topic
and the authors of the article state that sleep interventions need to be
developed to help prevent cortical atrophy especially in older adults.
https://www.aan.com/PressRoom/home/PressRelease/1305
This article caught my attention because I feel like it can apply to just about every college student. It is especially interesting to me because it makes me wonder if there are hypocritical expectations that go along with being a college student. We are expected to push our limits in college: find ourselves, discover our passions, work to the best of our abilities all while getting minimal sleep for 4 years. If research has proved results of cortical atrophy only after 3.5 years, what kind of damage could there be throughout a lifetime? Are we really just working in the present to be smarter just to be dumber in the future? Are the high expectations set in college jeopardizing our real potentials in regards to careers and overall health in the future? In my opinion, these results are probably not as extreme as the article is claiming, but it is definitely something to think about. Maybe we SHOULD be putting sleep above some college things....
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