Sleep Loss Shown To Damage And Even Destroy Neurons

A U.S. study in mice found that chronic sleep loss may be more serious than previously thought, mainly because it may lead to irreversible damage to brain cells. Extended wakefulness in the lab animals led to significant loss of the locus coeruleus neurons essential for alertness and optimal cognition. The researchers stressed that more work needs to be done to determine whether a similar phenomenon occurs in humans and to determine how much sleep loss puts people at risk of neural injury.