All along I’ve been saying that we need sleep for the brain to rewire itself for another productive day at work. And it’s true. But what about people on night shifts and … other unique situations which prevent regular sleep patterns. How can they cope at work?
Today I found one response to this problem with possible good news for those all-nighters at work. I read a report over at CogNews today that suggests that by reducing nitric oxide gas in the brain … a person is better able to stay awake.
It was reported there that “People who must stay awake for long shifts – soldiers, pilots, truckers, students, doctors, parents of newborns – may take comfort from new research showing that preventing the gas nitric oxide from building up in the brain may ward off the sleep urge.”
Researchers from Children's Hospital Boston and the
Check out the details in the September 5 issue of the "European Journal of Neuroscience".
Basically … when awake your brain produces adenosine… which accumulates in the brain, and gradually produces sleep. In sleep … adenosine levels gradually decline and you awaken. Blocking adenosine receptors with caffeine prevents one’s nitric-oxide-induced slumber – a fact that we’ve all learned to help us through those emergency all-nighters. What do you think?
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