Khaberni - A recent study revealed that sleep deprivation is not limited to mental exhaustion but also causes physical damage to brain structure by disrupting the myelin sheath that insulates nerve cells and maintains the speed of signals.
A research team from the University of Camerino in Italy conducted a study on how lack of sleep negatively affects the protective fatty sheath surrounding nerve cells.
According to "Science.Alert" magazine, the researchers identified chemical disturbances in oligodendrocyte glial cells, which are specialized cells that regulate the cholesterol necessary for myelin formation - as the root cause. They linked sleep deprivation to myelin thinning, slowed nerve signals, and cognitive impairment.
The researchers analyzed MRI images of 185 healthy volunteers, thereby confirming previous results and experiments on mice, indicating that poor sleep quality is associated with decreased integrity of the brain's white matter structure.
The self-reported declines in sleep habits were directly linked to a significant deterioration in these neural pathways, highlighting the real impact on mental processes.
It should be noted that chronic sleep deprivation, which has become common in contemporary societies, represents a factor that increases the risk of reduced alertness, cognitive decline, and related diseases.
