5 Ways Sleep Affects the Brain

We all know just how vital sleep is – it’s the time when the body repairs itself, and re-energizes itself. But it’s just as important for your brain, too.

For anyone who’s woke up grouchy and barely able to think straight, that’s not going to shock you, but you may be surprised to learn just how sleep, or lack of sleep, can toy with your brain’s workings.

These are the 5 most surprising ways that sleep affects your brain…

Lack of sleep plays havoc with your memory

What was it you were going to do again? Uh… Not getting enough sleep is eventually going to catch up with you, and this is one of the most common ways – by destroying your memory (ok, not really destroying it, but it will leave you a little absent-minded).

Some researchers have noted a direct correlation between learning and sleeping, to the point where it’s suggested that after learning something, you should take a nap in order to make sure your education takes root.

It’s all down to the dendritic spines, the spindly growths at the end of brain neurons – for those who sleep better, the spines grow better, which improves communications across the brain. Not sleeping, on the other hand, limits the dendritic spines’ growth, which results in poorer memory.

Sleeping is the brain’s natural cleaner

Every day your brain becomes full of toxins. It’s ok, don’t panic, everyone’s is. But sleeping has been shown to clean out those non-essential toxins, since the brain essentially has two states: awake and alert, or sleeping and refreshing.

If you’re not sleeping properly, then the brain’s going to remain in the alert state, meaning it has no time to properly reboot, as it were.

Sleeping provides the best opportunity for the brain cells to shrink down in size, generating fluids to give the brain a good rinse.

Those who study sleep have even postulated that this is the real reason we sleep – to give the brain a chance to wash itself clean.

Not sleeping damages your brain cells

Here’s a pretty good reason not to stay awake for hours at a time: You risk brain damage. That’s not hyperbole; studies have shown that when we miss out on sleep, it begins a chain reaction that damages – and can even kill – the neurons in your brain.

These neurons are the ones that control how awake you are and how alert you are, so the end result is that by consistently missing out on sleep, you’re going to end up even sleepier. Cue the vicious cycle.

Lack of sleep destroys your performance

This one’s a no-brainer, if you’ll excuse the pun. We all know when we roll out of bed in the morning that we’re not quite with it.

We can barely brush our teeth and get dressed, much less anything else, but if you’re not sleeping correctly, it’s going to be even worse, impacting your performance well after everyone is fully awake and alert.

That’s because not sleeping drastically impairs your concentration and attention span – it’s not just things like work where your performance will suffer; it’s things like driving, which puts yourself and others in danger.

No sleep equals smaller brains

Bet you didn’t see this coming, right? But it turns out that your brain risks shrinking well beyond what it should if you’re not sleeping.

Studies have shown that there’s a connection between sleeping disorders and the size of the brain; the poorer the sleep, the quicker the brain shrinks.

What researchers aren’t sure of yet, however, is whether lack of sleep causes a decline in brain size, or whether a fast-shrinking brain affects the quality of your sleep. What they do know, however, is that it’s imperative to your overall health to get a good night’s rest.

Lack of sleep can have far-reaching consequences, and affects pretty much every aspect of your body – from the physical to the mental. But at least there are plenty of tips and tricks out there to find a sleeping solution that works for you.