by Anna Hunt, Awareness Junkie
New scientific research shows that lack of sleep may be more damaging to the brain than we’ve previously thought.
It’s well known that the brain gets a makeover every time you sleep. During sleep, support cells in the brain clear away residue left over from the day.
Now, new research shows that these support cells go into overdrive when you are not getting enough sleep. They clear away more than unneeded residue. They actually start to harm the brain.
Michele Bellesi, leader of the research team, told New Scientist:
We show for the first time that portions of synapses are literally eaten by astrocytes because of sleep loss.
Astrocytes are support cell in the brain that clear out unnecessary connections between neurons. This process is called phagocytosis, which means “to devour” in Greek.
The Brain’s Clean-up Process
It is absolutely normal for the brain’s support cells, called glial cells, to clean up the brain during sleep. They clear out old and worn out neurons. They also clean up old and unnecessary synapses, or connections, between neurons.