November 27, 2013 9:00 — 1 Comment
Young Kids’ Brain Connections Strengthen During Sleep
While young children sleep, connections between the left and right hemispheres of their brains strengthen, perhaps helping brain functions mature, according to a new study by the University of Colorado Boulder. The research team used electroencephalograms (EEGs) to measure the brain activity of eight sleeping children multiple times at the ages of 2, 3 and 5 years. “Interestingly, during a night of sleep, connections weakened within hemispheres but strengthened between hemispheres,” said Salome Kurth, a postdoctoral researcher and one of the lead researchers. Moreover, the research team also found that the strength of the connections between the left and right hemispheres increased by as much as 20 percent over a night’s sleep. Click here to read the full article.
Quite interesting; we also know that protein synthesis take place in sleep. It is therefore not surprising that connections and myelination also take place mostly during sleep hours. I remember before the formation of Intern and Resident association in 1968, we all had some degree of sleep deprivation syndrome. That generally affected our performance next day, although with extra effort, we managed. This shows the importance of sleep, not only in children but in adults as well.
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