BRAIN AWARENESS ACTIVITY IN NEUROSCIENCES City Date Time Hall Athens March 12, 2013 10:00 Main Hall of University Ecclesiastical Academy of Athens (UEAA) TITLE: Sleep, the best medicine PROGRAM 1 Title of the talk/ Presentation Speaker/ Presenter Sleep, the best medicine Dr Hara Sardi, Neurophysiologist, Teacher of University Ecclesiastical Academy of Athens Organizers: Hellenic Society for Neurosciences University Ecclesiastical Academy of Athens Responsible members of the Hellenic Society for Neurosciences E-mails Telephones Hara Sardi chsardi@med.uoa.gr 6942 849597 1
Summary of the presentation-description of the activity All animals which are dependended on sun energy, they modulated rhythms which follow the rotation between light and darkness and they are named as circadian rhythms. Sleep and the suppression of sympathetic system during the night, constitutes the phase of these rhythms in mammals and in most kinds of animals. Sleep is essential for the mammals and it attributes Firstly, attention which is the base of the pyramid of mental abilities. Its reinforcement drives forward all the other abilities. The stimulation level and attention of the brain is controlled basically by two neurotransmitters, dopamine and noradreline. Dopamine reinforces the attention and concentration while noradreline facilitates the vigilance of the ambient environment. Secondly, the alertness, which after lack of sleep, reduces the brain activity and the function mainly in thalamus and in prefrontal lobe. Thirdly, the ability of memorization and stabilization of early acquired memory, it is reduced noticeably after lack of sleep. In Harvard s University research, 60 volunteers were examined in memorizing a combination of words under certain circumstances. It was concluded that sleep after memorization and before a memory test, it improves the performance. Which means that sleep does not only passively and transiently protect memory but it also has an active role in its organization and stabilization (Thomas et al., 2000). 2
Fourthly, the ability of decision making escalates after a good, eight hours sleep. In 2006, a research which took place in Harvard s Medical School and Berkley s California University, it proved that humans brain who remain awake all night, they were oscillated between ultimate euphoria and ultimate desperation, which is not the best, for a right decision (Ellenbogen et al., 2006). Finally, an eight hour sleep starting early at night, it does help in physical and mental health and it is controlled by the cerebral stem, thalamus, several exterior stimuli and other hormones which are produced in hypothalamus such as the melatonine s levels which are higher during night in order to produce sleep. On the contrary, adenosine, a noucleotide which is engaged in the production of energy in biochemical processes and it accumulates in human brain during awakening. 3
Photographs Icon 1. Hara Sardi with students from UEAA. 4
Icon 2. Hara Sardi with students from UEAA. 5
Icon 3. Students from UEAA attending the speech on sleep during BAW 2013. 6
Icon 4. Students from UEAA attending the speech on sleep during BAW 2013. 7