Sleep is for the Weak Strong
By: Samuel Lee
We all know that sleep is important and necessary, but did you know that the reason you couldn’t remember who the 32nd President of the United States on that history test may be due to lack of sleep? Have you ever had an “off” day when playing your favorite sport and couldn’t figure out why?
(It’s Franklin D. Roosevelt by the way!)
Different sleep phases have been linked to different types of memory. Declarative memory, which is the type of memory that would store facts such as the names of Presidents have been linked to slow wave sleep, which occurs during early sleep. On the other hand, procedural memory, which deals with skills that you may use in a sport, have been shown to be consolidated during REM (Rapid Eye Movement) Sleep, a sleep phase where dreams usually occur.
Now imagine that you are a magnificent gazelle that is peacefully eating the soft grass in a calm meadow. Suddenly, a lion appears and sprints towards you at full speed. Your body automatically sends energy down into your strong and sexy legs. Before the lion can reach you, your legs take off, reaching speeds that you had never attained before, leaving the lion in the dust. Your heart is pounding, but soon you calm down and resume eating your soft grass.
Okay, you can leave gazelle mode now.
The reason your gazelle self was able to sprint so fast can be attributed to cortisol, the “stress” hormone, which is activated in times of flight or fight responses. Cortisol is regulated by sleep and therefore affects memory consolidation. Cortisol is dubbed as the “stress” hormone because cortisol levels spike in stressful conditions, allowing you to cope with stressful situations (like being chased by a lion). Interestingly, a decrease in cortisol release during early sleep enhances the memory that is in charge of remembering the names of Presidents and an increase in cortisol during REM sleep doesn’t seem to have an effect on the memory that remembers how to do a certain physical maneuver in a sport.
*Here’s the structure of cortisol for you chemistry people!
Many people think that having some alcohol before sleeping enhances sleep because it generally allows them to fall asleep easily. However, this has proven to be false, for alcohol affects REM sleep which is the most restful phase of the sleep cycle.
Alcohol can make you sleep more easily, but you won’t be as restful when you wake up! Interestingly, alcohol has been shown to increase cortisol levels, which has been shown to inhibit the memory that you would use to remember facts (declarative memory).
So not only will you be less rested after drinking some alcohol, you’ll also probably flunk that history test. Basically, make sure that you get those seven hours of sleep without drinking so that you can wake up fresh and ready to take on the new day! You never know when you could be attacked by a lion lurking in the fields…..
Works Cited
Born, Jan, and Ullrich Wagner. “Memory Consolidation during Sleep: Role of Cortisol Feedback.” Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1032.1 (2004): 198-201. Web.
“The Role of Cortisol in Sleep.” Natural Medicine Journal. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2014.
“Sleep, Dreams, and Memory Consolidation: The Role of the Stress Hormone Cortisol.” Sleep, Dreams, and Memory Consolidation: The Role of the Stress Hormone Cortisol. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2014.
“What You Need to Know About the Stress Hormone.” About. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2014.