Oxford University researchers have discovered a brain process common to sleep and ageing in research that could pave the way for new treatments for insomnia.
Oxford University researchers have discovered a brain process common to sleep and ageing in research that could pave the way for new treatments for insomnia.
Writing in the journal Nature, the scientists report how oxidative stress leads to sleep. Oxidative stress is also believed to be a reason why we age and a cause of degenerative diseases.
The researchers say the discovery brings us closer to understanding the still-mysterious function of sleep and offers new hope for the treatment of sleep disorders. It may also explain why, as is suspected, chronic lack of sleep shortens life.
Professor Gero Miesenböck, Director of Oxford University’s Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour, who led the Oxford team, said: ‘It’s no accident that oxygen tanks carry explosion hazard labels: uncontrolled combustion is dangerous. Animals, including humans, face a similar risk when they use the oxygen they breathe to convert food into energy: imperfectly contained combustion leads to “oxidative stress” in the cell. This is believed to be a cause of ageing and a culprit for the degenerative diseases that blight our later years. Our new research shows that oxidative stress also activates the neurons that control whether we go to sleep.’
Read more at Oxford University
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