View Full Forums : I need some of this right now...


Panamah
08-24-2005, 11:25 AM
:sleep:
http://www.rxpgnews.com/research/psychiatry/sleepdisorders/article_2139.shtml


Clocking in Pillow Time without the Pillow
Aug 24, 2005, 04:10


They found that sleepy monkeys taking the drug performed tasks better and had increased metabolic activity in several regions of their brains. This suggests that the cognitive effects of sleep deprivation can be reduced chemically.


By PLoS Biology, If you snooze, you lose those uncomely grayish-brown crescents below your eyes. If you don’t snooze, you lose a lot more. The body can’t fight off infection, the muscles can’t regenerate as quickly, the mind can’t learn new words, and the eyes can’t focus on the road. You also gain things: a bad mood and increased risk for diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart problems. Indeed, the effects of sleep deprivation can be so serious that some sleep scientists liken lifetime sleep debt to a heavy backpack: every sleep hour missed adds an extra pound to your pack until it weighs you down.

For people without time for a daily eight hours in the sack, drugs that counteract the effects of sleep deprivation could serve as substitutes. In a new study, Sam Deadwyler and colleagues have explored this possibility by giving dog-tired rhesus monkeys a drug shown to improve the functioning of alert brains. They found that sleepy monkeys taking the drug performed tasks better and had increased metabolic activity in several regions of their brains. This suggests that the cognitive effects of sleep deprivation can be reduced chemically.

The researchers kept the monkeys awake for 30 to 36 hours by playing music and videos, keeping the lights on, and interacting with them: all the annoyances that can also keep humans from sleeping. To determine the drug’s effect on drowsy monkeys, Deadwyler and colleagues used a behavioral test called Match-To-Sample, which measured both accuracy of memory and speed of recall. In the behavioral test, the monkeys saw a simple image flash on a screen. For a variable amount of time, the monkeys had to remember the image. Then, they had to select the correct image from a group of others shown on the monitor simultaneously. When monkeys correctly selected the original image with a cursor, they got a squirt of juice in their mouth as reward. The researchers measured how long they could keep the screen blank between the first and second images without affecting the monkeys’ performance. They found that if the monkeys were tired, they couldn’t remember the first image for long as they could when they were alert. But with the drug, the sleep-deprived monkeys did at least as well as alert monkeys.

The drug, labeled CX717 (Cortex Pharmaceuticals), acts on AMPA receptors, protein structures on the surface of neurons. When these receptors bind to the neurotransmitter glutamate, they transduce excitatory signals by opening an ion channel. Ampakines including CX717 make the activated channel stay open longer when glutamate binds. More ions pass through the channel, creating a stronger signal when nerve cells are activated. The ubiquity of these receptors makes them good targets for drugs that increase general cognitive functioning.

The researchers used a technique called positron emission tomography, or PET, to gain insight into CX717’s neurobiological role. The PET signal reflected the distribution and rate of metabolism of ingested radioactively labeled glucose in the monkeys’ brain cells. By measuring regional brain glucose metabolism, the researchers determined that for sleep-deprived monkeys, glucose metabolism drops off in brain areas previously associated with memory tasks—namely, the prefrontal cortex, the dorsal striatum, and the medial temporal lobe. However, when sleep-deprived monkeys took the drug, they showed heightened glucose metabolism in these same brain regions. The researchers compared these results to suggest a biological basis for the drug’s effects.

Previous studies have shown that caffeine and amphetamine can reduce the deleterious cognitive effects of sleep deprivation. But as anybody who has indulged one latte too many knows, caffeine and other powerful stimulants have limited usefulness. These potentially addictive chemicals can distort thinking just as they can enhance it. Because CX717 has a different biochemical action, it may be more beneficial than stimulants for counteracting the cognitive effects of sleep deprivation. But that doesn’t mean we should throw away our pillows and blankets just yet: sleep deprivation affects both body and mind.

Arienne
08-24-2005, 12:22 PM
You want to act MORE like a monkey?

Now we're in BIG trouble!! :flowers2:

Stormhaven
08-24-2005, 12:30 PM
I'd try it. I'm actually thinking about asking my doctor about sleep clinics in my area. I've gone from a general insomniac to an insomniac + restless sleeper. I don't do a lot of tossing and turning, but I wake up for no apparent reason multiple times during the night. I'm not a "typical" insomniac though, I'm one of those that can get two hours of sleep and be tired all day, but never fall asleep at night (asleep by 3am, up by 6:30!). I've got an ongoing prescription for Ambien, but never take the stuff more than once every few weeks (scared of getting hooked). Doctor gave me an Rx for Lunestra, but that did absolutely nothing - didn't even make me drowsy.

Arienne
08-24-2005, 12:45 PM
I used to have bouts of insomnia. I cured it pretty easily by turning off the TV and not drinking coffee or eating anything sweet a few hours before I go to bed... but the biggest cureall was when I got some notepads and pens and put them in the drawer by the bed. When I couldn't shake a thought at night I just flipped on the light and wrote it down so it would be waiting for me in the morning. It's amazing how the fear of not remembering something important by morning will keep you awake.

I don't keep the pads and pens nearby these days. I guess I don't think of anything important anymore :)

Panamah
08-24-2005, 12:50 PM
Sleep apnea perhaps? Thyroid disorder? I had terrible sleep problems when I was hyperthyroid. I take a antihistamine every night before bedtime to get sleepy. I've tried valerian root, 5-HTP (tryptophan precursor), melatonin, GABA. I think they all work a little bit. I used to find that if I got into a cycle of insomnia that breaking the cycle for a few nights with a sleeping drug worked pretty good. There's also the trick of resetting the biological clock which involves progressively setting your going to bed time later and later, until you've gone completely around the clock. A little disruptive for working people though.

Lets see... what else could it be... hyperconservatism causes sleep disturbances, try voting democrat in the next election (J/K!).

Stormhaven
08-24-2005, 12:58 PM
I've had insomnia-like symptoms since I was a kid (10ish or earlier, but I can't recall for sure). I wasn't a big Coke fiend until my teenage years, but I even went caffeine-less for a couple of years straight, didn't help a lick (and I was never a big sweets person, so sugar wasn't it either). All the "quick tricks" were never reliable for me - music/tv, reading, warm milk (that stuff's nasty...), etc. They'd work once and a while but never day to day. I used to draw, but I'd get so involved in it, I stayed up longer :/

<i>edit - Re: Panamah</i>
I use melatonin more than I use my prescription stuff (but still maybe only once or twice every two weeks), but I recently read some potentially scary stuff about the fact that melatonin is pretty much an unregulated OTC hormone (and I can't find the link, darn it). As for the rest, well, since childhood no doctor has diagnosed me with anything more dire than poor eyesight (yay LASIK!). Oh, and the around the clock thing - did that several times (albeit, by accident, not on purpose), never did anything for me either!

Eridalafar
08-25-2005, 07:34 PM
I was having some insomnia passs when I was younger. My greath-parents have find a trick, a big and heavy axe and a lot of wood to be cut for the winter (I was passing my summer at their home, and I have also cut the neibors wood to this summer), after 6 hours of cutting woot; you will sleep.

Now it have mostly passed, but when I can't find sleep a few nights in row, I find something to do that let me totaly exausted physicaly.

Eridalafar

Drake09
08-25-2005, 08:34 PM
Chillow? (http://www.sitincomfort.com/chilcoolandc.html)