Forget hits to the head—just one night of sleep deprivation creates changes in the brain similar to a mild concussion, according to new research from Sweden.
The small study was done on 15 healthy guys. One night they got 8 hours of sleep in the lab, and another night, total sleep deprivation. The men played games, read, or watched movies to stay awake.
After the all-nighter, blood samples revealed that certain levels of neurochemical markers associated with brain cell damage rose by 20 percent compared to when the guys snagged a full night’s rest.
“Dysfunctional sleep has been linked with a range of health problems, and it looks like that’s because we’re injuring our brain by not getting enough sleep,” says Men’s Health sleep medicine advisor W. Chris Winter, M.D., medical director of the Martha Jefferson Sleep Medicine Center in Charlottesville, Virginia. Why? Your lymphatic system is 10 times more active when asleep in order to get rid of cell debris and toxins, he says. When you don’t sleep, your brain can’t clean itself up and you deal with brain fogginess or feel sick the next day.
The good news: Your brain was built to bounce back from the occasional night up—it’s long-term repeated nights of little sleep that may cause future damage. So ditch the perception that you might be really good at going without sleep—“it’s not a badge of courage,” says Dr. Winter. Make clocking the 7 to 8 hours you need every night a priority. If not for your brain, do it for your body: After a sleepless night, you’re more likely to crave junk food and skip workouts, according to a 2013 study.
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