Lack of sleep not only makes you feel horrible, but study has proven that it harms your brain as well. Long-term sleep deprivation can significantly raise the chance of developing neurological illnesses like Alzheimer`s. Researchers are trying to figure out how lack of sleep results in this damage. In a recent study published in the Journal of Proteome Research of the American Chemical Society, a team using mice discovered a protective protein whose level decreases with sleep deprivation and results in neuronal death.

Studies indicate that lack of sleep leads to neurological damage in the hippocampus, a part of the brain involved in learning and memory. To better understand the changes responsible for this effect, scientists have begun examining shifts in the abundance of proteins and RNA, which contains genetically encoded instructions derived from DNA. In this way, previous studies have identified some factors linking sleep loss to damage; however, researchers haven`t generally confirmed they play a role in cognitive function within larger animal populations. So, Fuyi Xu, Jia Mi and their colleagues set out to further explore how sleep loss damages the brain and to corroborate their findings.