Stressful Sleep Loss Impairs Memory

I'm sure we've all heard about the importance of sleep before exams and whatnot. Now there is science to back the claims. Scientists conducted a study on mice that involved stressful sleep deprivation. Scientists had mice on an elevated platform above water. If the mice fell asleep they would immediately fall in the water and be awakened. This scenario also induced stress in the mice. Researchers found that after this went on for a few days the mice had elevated levels of corticosterone. They then linked the elevated levels of corticosterone to a reduced number of new cells in the hippocampus, the region of the brain that controls memory and learning. This was compared to mice that underwent unstressful sleep deprivation. These mice didn't have raised corticosterone levels. They also showed normal brain function. Therefore one can raise the question that corticosterone is responsible for decreased hippocampus activity.

The full article can be found here: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_41872.html

I found this suprisingly pertinent to our current situation as students and finals. Best of luck to everyone.