Sleep Affects Formation Of Myelin, Vital To Brain Growth And Repair- Study

A new study sheds light on the role sleep plays in the the ability of the brain’s cells to grow and repair themselves.

The research, published in The Journal of Neuroscience, was conducted in mice that were either allowed to sleep, or forced to stay awake. Researchers looked particularly at how sleep — or lack thereof — affected gene activity of cells called oligodendrocytes, which play a role in the production of myelin. Myelin covers brain and spinal cord nerve cell projections as a sort of “insulation”; researchers explained that it is integral to the movement of electrical impulses from cell to cell.

The study shows that sleep seems to turn on genes known to play a part in the formation of myelin. Meanwhile, lack of sleep was linked with the activation of genes associated with cell stress and death. Read More…