{"id":233329,"date":"2025-02-06T17:56:37","date_gmt":"2025-02-06T17:56:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/06\/sleeping-pills-may-have-unexpected-effects-on-the-brain\/"},"modified":"2025-02-06T17:56:37","modified_gmt":"2025-02-06T17:56:37","slug":"sleeping-pills-may-have-unexpected-effects-on-the-brain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/06\/sleeping-pills-may-have-unexpected-effects-on-the-brain\/","title":{"rendered":"Sleeping pills may have unexpected effects on the brain"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.sciencenews.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/MAR_014_25_A_598X336_option2_V02.png?ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Sleeping pills may have unexpected effects on the brain\" title=\"Sleeping pills may have unexpected effects on the brain\" \/><\/div> \r\n<br><div data-component=\"video-embed\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\n\n\n\n<p>So many of us struggle to fall asleep and stay there through the night. About <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/sleep\/data-research\/facts-stats\/adults-sleep-facts-and-stats.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a third of U.S. adults<\/a> aren\u2019t sleeping enough. Teenagers\u2019 sleep is even worse; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thensf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/NSF-Sleep-in-America-2024-Report_final.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">8 in 10 teens are sleep deprived<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our collective exhaustion isn\u2019t good for us. Lack of sleep can come with a range of health problems. Our immune systems, hormones, hearts \u2014 maybe all the body\u2019s major systems \u2014 are influenced by sleep. In the brain, our memory, creativity and ability to learn are, too.<\/p>\n\n\n<aside class=\"sn-conversion rich-text rich-text--with-sidebar\">\n<style><![CDATA[\n.email-conversion {\n  border: 1px solid #ffcccb;\n  color: white;\n  margin-top: 50px;\n  background-image: url(\"\/wp-content\/themes\/sciencenews\/client\/src\/images\/cta-module@2x.jpg\");\n  padding: 20px;\n  clear: both;\n}\n\n]]><\/style>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"rich-text embedded-conversion-content is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencenews.org\/article\/deep-end-podcast-trailer?cta=top\">\n  <\/a><\/div><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencenews.org\/article\/deep-end-podcast-trailer?cta=top\">\n<\/a>\n\n<style><![CDATA[\n#dynamic-conversion {\n  border: 1px solid #ffcccb;\n  max-width: 100%;\n  height: auto;\n  clear: both;\n}\n]]><\/style>\n\n\n\n\n<\/aside>\n\n\n<p>But for something that\u2019s so entwined with our health, the actual jobs of sleep are still, in many ways, a mystery. Scientists have tons of ideas: Perhaps sleep is for rifling through memories, picking out the important ones. Or maybe it\u2019s a quiet, still time for growing bones in children. Or maybe it\u2019s a time to let the brain loose on whatever problem vexed you that day. (One delightfully myopic theory posits that sleep, especially the rapid eye movement stage, is for squeezing fluid around the eye to keep it lubricated.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Figuring out why we sleep has puzzled scientists for as long as the question has existed. It\u2019s like following hundreds of disappearing breadcrumbs on paths through a forest of trees that keep shifting spots, only to realize you\u2019re standing alone in only your underwear. Oh, and you forgot to study for the test.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Given this hazy scientific landscape, it\u2019s no surprise that efforts to help the sleep-deprived catch some z\u2019s might fall short or have unintended consequences. That\u2019s clear from a new study of the sleep medicine zolpidem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Zolpidem, sold as Ambien, messes with yet another possible job of sleep \u2013 housekeeping. Every 20 seconds or so, a wave of cerebrospinal fluid pulses through a person\u2019s sleeping brain. Scientists suspect that these <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencenews.org\/article\/sleep-may-trigger-rhythmic-power-washing-brain\">rhythmic pulses clear out waste products<\/a>, including the sticky proteins that accumulate in Alzheimer\u2019s disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This brain wash is sort of like running the dishwasher overnight, says neuroscientist Maiken Nedergaard, who helped discover the system. Washing up isn\u2019t a flashy job, but an important one that hasn\u2019t been fully appreciated. \u201cThe whole housekeeping function of sleep has been ignored for many, many years,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mice on zolpidem fell asleep faster and slept deeper than naturally sleeping mice, says Nedergaard, of the University of Rochester in New York and the University of Copenhagen. But <a href=\"https:\/\/id.elsevier.com\/as\/authorization.oauth2?platSite=LT%2Fcell&amp;site=cell-site&amp;scope=openid+profile+address+email+els_auth_info+els_analytics_info+urn%3Acom%3Aelsevier%3Aidp%3Apolicy%3Aproduct%3Aindv_identity&amp;response_type=code&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cell.com%2Fcallback%3Fred_uri%3D%252Fcell%252Fretrieve%252Fpii%252FS0092867424013436%253F_returnURL%253Dhttps%25253A%25252F%25252Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%25252Fretrieve%25252Fpii%25252FS0092867424013436%25253Fshowall%25253Dtrue&amp;state=15332678389&amp;authType=SINGLE_SIGN_IN&amp;client_name=Cell+Press&amp;prompt=none&amp;client_id=JBS&amp;additionalPlatSites=LT%2Fjbs%2CSD%2Fscience%2CLT%2Fthelancet%2CLT%2Fgeneric\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">they had less power washing<\/a>, her team reports in the Feb. 6 <em>Cell<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Scientists don\u2019t yet know if this also happens in humans, or what the consequences of this weaker wash cycle might be. But the results point out potential pitfalls in our attempts to kick-start sleep.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Zolpidem targets GABA, a chemical messenger that sends \u201chush\u201d signals. \u201cThat means it\u2019s shutting down everything in your brain,\u201d says sleep scientist Robert Stickgold of MIT. It\u2019s a powerful, blunt-force tool that doesn\u2019t need to know why you can\u2019t sleep. Pain, stress, restless legs \u2014 these can all lead to insomnia. \u201cAmbien doesn\u2019t care,\u201d Stickgold says. \u201cAmbien is just going to hit you in the back of the head with a sledgehammer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ambien-assisted sleep may be justified for short stretches, Nedergaard says. But long-term use brings considerable side effects. The brain-cleaning disruption may be one. \u201cWe need a new sleep aid that gets people to sleep but preserves these oscillations,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But for people in dire sleep straits, blunt force sleeping pills are better than no sleep at all. \u201cI tell people sleeping meds are terrible things,\u201d Stickgold deadpans. \u201cYou should never take them. Unless you can\u2019t sleep well without them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<aside class=\"sn-conversion rich-text rich-text--with-sidebar\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-elements-27c40654034fbeecef6418d6adfe0794\" style=\"color:gray; margin-bottom:0px; font-size:.9rem;\">Sponsor Message<\/p>\n<!-- Tag ID: sciencenews-org_leaderboard_incontent -->\n\n<\/aside>\n\n\n<p>Scientists aren\u2019t just trying to help people sleep better. They\u2019re also pushing the limits of what sleeping brains can accomplish. Researchers can instruct a sleeping person to dream about particular objects like trees, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencenews.org\/article\/learn-play-piano-your-sleep\">sharpen their piano playing skills<\/a> and maybe even learn a new language. These feats are impressive but they may involve trade-offs, Stickgold warns. If you\u2019re forcing the sleeping brain to do something specific, \u201cthen you\u2019re getting less of something else,\u201d he says. \u201cWe have to assume that something else is there for a reason.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Humility is the way forward to understanding \u2013 and tinkering with \u2013 a system as complex as the sleeping brain.<strong>\u201c<\/strong>It is arguably impossible for us to know everything,\u201d Stickgold says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So maybe we should not expect one simple answer to the question of why we sleep. It could be for growing bones, sharpening memories, cleaning the brain and many more tasks. In the years to come, we will no doubt find new clues about how sleep keeps our bodies and minds healthy. And these scientific breadcrumbs may lead us to yet more mysteries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n<br>\r\n<br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencenews.org\/article\/sleeping-pills-brain-effects\">Source link <\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>So many of us struggle to fall asleep and stay there through the night. About a third of U.S. adults aren\u2019t sleeping enough. Teenagers\u2019 sleep is even worse; 8 in 10 teens are sleep deprived. Our collective exhaustion isn\u2019t good for us. Lack of sleep can come with a range of health problems. Our immune [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":233330,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.sciencenews.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/MAR_014_25_A_598X336_option2_V02.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[606],"tags":[1920,14786,89843,15611,4354],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233329"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=233329"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233329\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":233331,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233329\/revisions\/233331"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/233330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=233329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=233329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=233329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}