Scientists from China decided to find out how insomnia affects the state of the human brain, and conducted a corresponding study. As a result of the work done, the researchers came to the shocking conclusion - lack of sleep leads to depressive disorders and actually destroys the brain.
To determine how insomnia affects the brain, scientists from China conducted a study involving 53 volunteers, divided into two groups. The first group included 23 people who suffer from chronic insomnia. The second group consisted of subjects who were satisfied with the quality of their sleep and its duration.
First, all of the volunteers were scanned with magnetic resonance imaging. After that, the subjects underwent a survey, answering questions about how they assess the quality of their sleep, as well as their psychological state.
Comparing the results of participants in both groups of experimental subjects, the researchers noticed that in people suffering from chronic sleep deprivation, in special zones of the thalamus, the integrity of the white matter, which is responsible for the relationship with consciousness and attentiveness, is disrupted. This, in turn, leads to the loss of the protective layer of neurons in the brain, or, more simply, affects the activation of the depressive state.
In connection with the results obtained, the authors of the study recommend that people not reduce the number of hours allotted to night rest, and carefully monitor the quality of their sleep, and in case of problems with it, immediately seek help from specialists. Otherwise, lack of sleep will lead to a weakening of the protection of brain neurons and, as a result, to depression.