The Science Behind Sleep and Brain Health

Sleep is not just time for the body to rest, it is actually a vital aspect of brain health. When considering the multitude of areas sleep impacts: memory, cognitive functioning, emotional regulation, and brain functioning in general; it is not surprising sleep is so closely related to brain health. When you sleep well, your brain has an opportunity to consolidate all the information you received that day, learn from it, and practice regulating emotions. Understanding the connection between sleep and brain functioning, will likely not only lead to further cognitive advantages, but also hopefully lead to you being a better mental health human.

The Importance of Sleep for Brain Function

Sleep is essential to the brain’s ability to perform important cognitive tasks. The brain processes and consolidates memories while sleeping and clears the brain of negative, irrelevant, and troublesome emotional states, and also repairs. If the brain does not receive the appropriate amount of sleep, the brain will not function neurologically to its full capacity. The vital functions of cognition, such as attention, reasoning, problem solving, or decision making will be inhibited in the quality of neural functioning. So, we have cognitive processes that can relate directly to memory and memory consolidation and task performance, and of course cognitive performance, quality of cognition in things such as attention and decision making.

Moreover, cognitive processes while we sleep do go beyond memory processing and task performance. While sleeping, a second important process occurs: a detoxification process becomes a second important cognitive process. During sleep, our body utilizes a waste byproduct system called the glymphatic system. This system, during sleep, clears waste products in the brain created by metabolism, including beta-amyloid. Beta-amyloid is increasingly and consistently being associated with cognitive decline, including Alzheimer disease. The two processes of sleep memory processing/memories and task performance, and the brain detoxification processes illustrate the significance that sleep as an operating function for the brain has. These insights highlight the impact of sleep on brain function, as well as the amazing role that sleep would play in the prevention of long-term cognitive decline and management of healthy cognitive processes. 

The Cognitive Benefits of Quality Sleep

The cognitive benefits of quality sleep are extensive in nature and can improve many cognitive functions:

Memory Consolidation:

Perhaps one of the also most obvious benefits of sleep is that sleep is important for memory consolidation. Sleep helps with taking short-term memories and transferring them into more permanent long-term memories, thus making it easier to remember things sometime into the future. 

Learning:

A brain that is well-rested is better able to learn, as it is more capable of retaining new information. Sleep allows for learning by “attending” to new neural connections as it relates to new skills and knowledge, and “solidifying” the novel learning into memory. 

Attention/Focus:

Sleep is also important for cognitive attention maintenance. Without sufficient sleep, it is challenging to attend to something and maintain it over time.

Creativity and Problem Solving:

A brain that is rested is flexible and better able to think outside the box, approach problems from different angles, and come up with creative responses. 

These are merely a few examples of how the cognitive benefits of quality sleep can impact your functioning, productivity, and overall mental health.

The Link Between Sleep and Mental Health

The connection between sleep and brain health points to not only cognitive ability but also emotional well-being. There is now a significant body of research indicating a strong association between chronic sleep deprivation and an increased likelihood of having mental health issues (i.e., anxiety, depression, and even stress). When a person is sleep-deprived, their brain does not respond to emotional and stress-related problems in an appropriate manner (i.e., stable emotion regulation and processing emotional stimuli such as stress). As a result, a person can experience mood instability, irritability, and increased chance of displaying pre-existing mental health problems when sleep-deprived.

How Sleep Affects Brain Performance

The effects of sleep on brain function cannot be separated from the restorative effects of sleep. The brain must receive adequate sleep in order to reset the brain and prepare for the next day. Much of the work of memory consolidation, neural repair/developments and waste removal occurs during sleep and all of these factors positively contribute to helping us think more clearly, regulate our emotions, etc. If we experience sleep deprivation, whether episodic (unequal or insufficient sleep for a specific time) or down right chronic, the result is worse mental performance in relation to slower reaction time, worse decision-making, and heightened difficulties with concentration.

By taking responsibility for sleep, we are taking charge of our mental clarity, problem-solving, and decision-making. Sleep is important and it is directly connected to how we fully function our brain on a daily basis.

Tips for Improving Sleep for Better Brain Health

As sleep is so essential for brain health, we should make sleep a priority. Here a few different ways to improve your sleep and brain health:

Keep a Consistent Sleep Time:

Sleep and wake at the same time of every day. This way the internal system that controls our circadian rhythm and the body’s clock are working together. 

Create a Sleep Environment:

Make where you sleep conducive to sleep, preferably cool, dark and quiet. If light is an issue, think about blackout curtains and if noise is a distraction from sleep, remove it.

Reduce Screentime Pre Sleep:

Phone, tablet, and computer screens emit blue lights which hinder the ability to fall asleep, so reduce screentime for at least an hour before sleep. 

Reduce Stresses with Activities that Support Sleep:

Engage in activities,like reading, meditating, or gentle stretches, that calm the mind. 

Exercise Regularly:

Regular movement may improve your ideal sleep, however vigorous exercise too close to sleep is not advised.

Conclusion

There is no doubt that sleep and brain health are intricately linked. Sleep is a short word with endless possibilities. You may think about what is considered “rest” as in sleeping. But sleep is an active state that allows memory, cognitive function, emotional regulation, and of course brain function. When you value sleep, you minimize the potential endorsement of higher risk behavior, and also the multitude of complexities that exist with brain health, sleep or not.

Potentially, if you improve the quality of sleep and see sleep as an aspect of holistic health, then you can improve your cognitive clarity, emotional stability, and longevity of cognitive health into the years that follow. So the next time you think about shortening your sleep, think about how your brain works depending on quality sleep.

This blog has been medically reviewed by Dr. Anudeep Davuluri, Neurophysician.