Cell Growth, Brain Activity Zapped By Lack Of Sleep

Are you getting enough sleep?

A new study found that not getting adequate rest can actually interfere with a fundamental cellular process that drives physical growth, physiological adaptation and brain activity.

During the study, researchers at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville examined a plant study that showed how lack of sleep can weaken and interfere with the cellular process. They studied how protein synthesis--the process that determines the way in which organisms grow and cells renew themselves--change over the course of a daily cycle. They also studied if any changes are controlled by our circadian clock.

"When we misalign our behavior with our circadian clock, for example by creating jet lag, or by working as a night owl, we do not only disrupt normal physiological processes such as cycles of appetite and body temperature," researcher Albrecht von Arnim, said in a news release. "This work in plants suggests that we may also be interfering with a more fundamental cellular process, protein synthesis."

The findings could also have implications for agricultural production as farmers and companies seek to better cultivate land and maximize outputs from plants required to sustain human life.

"Protein synthesis is part of the basis for crop yield," von Arnim concluded.

The study was published in the journal Plant Cell.

Related Articles

Do Women Need more Sleep than Men? Study

For more great science stories and general news, please visit our sister site, Headlines and Global News (HNGN).