"The groundwork of all happiness is health." - Leigh Hunt

Poor sleep can alter your pain response.

In newspapers

Lack of sleep could make you more liable to pain, in accordance with a study within the January 28, 2019, issue. Journal of Neuroscience.

Researchers found that poor sleep interferes with certain pain centers within the brain and may change how an individual perceives and responds to pain. In the study, scientists scanned the brains of 25 healthy adults in two sleep environments: first, after eight hours of sleep, and again after being awake for twenty-four to twenty-eight hours. During each scans, additionally they found uncomfortable levels of warmth of their legs.

The scans showed that when the group was sleep-deprived, there was a 120 percent increase in activity of their somatosensory cortex, the brain region that interprets what pain seems like. This means their pain threshold was lower after eight hours of sleep.

When the group was sleep-deprived, additionally they had a 60% to 90% decrease in activity within the striatum and insula, two areas of the brain that normally reduce pain perception when activated. Scientists note that sleep deprivation makes the body less flexible and might help people who are suffering from frequent pain improve their sleep.

Although the variety of sleep disturbance studied just isn’t common, researchers in one other study found that even subtle changes in sleep quality — like frequent nighttime awakenings — were also related to next-day pain. are