overview for ILoveDurians

What's an unexpected skill you have? in c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

[–] ILoveDurians@lemmy.cafe 7 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I never forget a face

TIL we need sleep because waste products such as adenosine, which make us feel sleepy, build up while we're awake. Without sleep we die from our brain overdosing itself on its "sleeping pills" in c/til@lemmy.world

[–] ILoveDurians@lemmy.cafe 2 points 3 days ago

Caffeine does this, but the effect is temporary. There's a rare condition called Morvan Syndrome, where there is a case of a person with it going without any sleep for 4 months, and had no cognitive impairment. Normally a person would die after 11 days. Seems like this condition messes with the inhibitory synapses so it might also mess with how adenosine affects the brain as well. 10% of cases lead to death though

TIL we need sleep because waste products such as adenosine, which make us feel sleepy, build up while we're awake. Without sleep we die from our brain overdosing itself on its "sleeping pills" in c/til@lemmy.world

[–] ILoveDurians@lemmy.cafe -2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

It's referring to plain adenosine. When adenosine builds up in the brain, the only way for the brain to get rid of the accumulation of it is by sleeping because it activates the glymphatic system, where CSF is used to flush out the waste/byproducts. If you don't sleep, the adenosine continues to accumulate in the brain with nowhere to go.

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TIL we need sleep because waste products such as adenosine, which make us feel sleepy, build up while we're awake. Without sleep we die from our brain overdosing itself on its "sleeping pills" (www.buzzworthy.com)

submitted 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) by ILoveDurians@lemmy.cafe to c/til@lemmy.world

29 comments fedilink

Adenosine is a waste product of neurons and it is a potent nervous system depressant which is why if we don't sleep for a long time we hallucinate, start to feel cold, and feel tired. We feel like we're drugged because we kind of are. It also increases sleep pressure. Unlike other areas of the body the brain has no way of flushing out the adenosine unless we sleep which activates the glymphatic system. if we don't sleep the adenosine keeps accumulating and it can kill us in a similar way an od of sleeping pills can.

TIL of several stunts where celebs nearly died in c/til@lemmy.world