Sleeping well conducive to development

Being asleep could be important for the development of children and adolescents

04/18/2014

Sleeping in is good for development. To this finding, US researchers came in the study of the effects of sleep deprivation in fruit flies. Accordingly, extensive sleep phases are important for brain development and the ability to reproduce, the researchers report in the journal „Science“. The results could also be transferable to other species and possibly also to humans.

Long sleep in childhood is reflected in the behavior of adults
Children and adolescents usually like to sleep and often - often to the chagrin of their parents. However, according to a study by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, the sleeping behavior of young people even has positive effects. For example, sleeping in should favor the development of the brain, according to the specialist magazine.

As part of their study, the researchers led by Professor Amita Sehgal examined the effects of sleep deprivation in fruit flies. „These flies sleep much more than adults and that behavior repeats itself throughout the wildlife, "explains Sehgal. „Human children, rats, flies, they all sleep a lot. "According to a statement from the university, Dr. Matthew Kayser, co-author of the study, asked two main questions: „Why do young animals sleep so much??“ and „What effects does the change in this pattern have??“.

Tests with genetically modified fruit flies revealed that the pups normally produce little dopamine, which is also known as happiness hormone and promotes waking up from sleep. Consequently, young fruit flies sleep longer and deeper than adult animals. The researchers carried out further investigations, in which they artificially increased the dopamine release. On the one hand, the young fruit flies slept less, on the other hand, there was also a change in their mating behavior. They were less active than animals that did not suffer from lack of sleep. „The flies spend less time courting others, and those who behave as usual do not pursue it to the end. "In the brain of the sleep-deprived animals, the researchers identified a particular region, the less developed than normal flies and mating behavior.

Whether these study results allow a conclusion on the role of sleep in human development, must be investigated in further studies. For the first time but one „mechanistic connection between sleep in the early phase of life and adult behavior "evidenced by the investigation, says Sehgal.