Sleep 'boosts brain cell numbers'

Scientists believe they have discovered a new reason why we need to sleep - it replenishes a type of brain cell.

Sleep ramps up the production of cells that go on to make an insulating material known as myelin which protects our brain's circuitry.

The findings, so far in mice, could lead to insights about sleep's role in brain repair and growth as well as the disease MS.

Dr  found that the production rate of the myelin making cells, immature oligodendrocytes, doubled as mice slept.

The increase was most marked during the type of sleep that is associated with dreaming - REM or rapid eye movement sleep - and was driven by genes.

In contrast, the genes involved in cell death and stress responses were turned on when the mice were forced to stay awake.

Precisely why we need to sleep has baffled scientists for centuries. It's obvious that we need to sleep to feel rested and for our mind to function well - but the biological processes that go on as we slumber have only started to be uncovered relatively recently.

Growth and repair

Dr said: "For a long time, sleep researchers focused on how the activity of nerve cells differs when animals are awake versus when they are asleep.

"Now it is clear that the way other supporting cells in the nervous system operate also changes significantly depending on whether the animal is asleep or awake."

The researchers say their findings suggest that sleep loss might aggravate some symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS), a disease that damages myelin.

In MS, the body's immune system attacks and destroys the myelin coating of nerves in the brain and spinal cord.

Future studies could look at whether or not sleep affects the symptoms of MS, says Dr.

Her team is also interested in testing whether lack of sleep, especially during adolescence, may have long-term consequences for the brain.

Sleep appears necessary for our nervous systems to work properly.

Deep sleep coincides with the release of growth hormone in children and young adults. Many of the body's cells also show increased production and reduced breakdown of proteins during deep sleep.

Since proteins are the building blocks needed for cell growth and for repair of damage from factors like stress and ultraviolet rays, deep sleep may truly be "beauty sleep".

ps- this is only for information, always consult you physician before having any particular food/ medication/exercise/other remedies.

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Breast cancer drug toxic to brain cells and central nervous system

Researchers have revealed that the breast cancer drug tamoxifen is toxic to cells of the brain and central nervous system, and produces mental fogginess similar to "chemo brain."

Corresponding author  said that it is exciting to potentially be able to prevent a toxic reaction to one of the oldest and most widely used breast cancer medications on the market.

Although tamoxifen is relatively benign compared to most cancer treatments, it nonetheless produces troubling side effects in a subset of the large number of people who take it.

By studying tamoxifen's impact on central nervous system cell populations and then screening a library of 1,040 compounds already in clinical use or clinical trials, his team identified a substance known as AZD6244, and showed that it essentially eliminated tamoxifen-induced killing of brain cells in mice.

The team first identified central nervous system (CNS) cells that are most vulnerable to tamoxifen toxicity. Chief among these were oligodendrocyte-type 2 astrocyte progenitor cells (O-2A/OPCs), cells that are essential for making the insulating sheaths (called myelin) required for nerve cells to work properly.

Exposure to clinically relevant levels of tamoxifen for 48 hours killed more than 75 percent of these cells.

ps- this is only for information, always consult you physician before having any particular food/ medication/exercise/other remedies.

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