Khaberni - An American research team has identified the reason behind the lack of focus during daytime hours in cases of night insomnia or insufficient sleep.
Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that when sleep is not good at night, the brain shifts during the day to a mode of cleaning up debris, which it usually does at night. They attributed the lack of focus to sudden movements in brain fluids, a vital process that usually occurs during deep sleep.
Scientists say that cerebrospinal fluid helps clean up waste generated by brain activities during daytime hours.
The study, published in the scientific journal Nature Neuroscience, reported that during sleep, the brain's cleaning system works without conflicting with thinking activities, but when a person does not get enough sleep, the brain tries to activate this function during wakefulness, affecting concentration efficiency.
The experiment included 26 volunteers who underwent focus measurement tests and magnetic resonance imaging twice, once after getting enough sleep, and once after being deprived of sleep at night.
It was found that the volunteers' responses to visual and auditory signals were faster when well-rested, and that response speed was slower in cases of sleep deprivation, to the extent that the volunteers missed some indicators during the experiment.
Melatonin: What Is Melatonin? The "Sleep Hormone" Explained - Researcher Laura Lewis, an assistant professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, says: "In cases of sleep deprivation, waves of cerebrospinal fluid begin to conflict with the sense of wakefulness," adding in statements reported by the website "Health Day" specialized in medical research that "attention weakens during the moments when waves of cerebrospinal fluid flow".
