Sleep deprivation could help alleviate depression symptoms

Thousands of people in Britain suffer from depression, and some of those individuals experience this illness after suffering a brain injury.

Neuroscientists at Tufts University, Massachusetts, have made a discovery which may result in an improvement in the treatment of the symptoms of depression.

Research in the 1970’s revealed that sleep deprivation helped alleviate depressive symptoms faster than the drugs currently prescribed to patients.

The problem with past studies into sleep deprivation has been that, despite 60% of individuals seeing positive results immediately, reaching a sleep deprived state has been uncomfortable for participants and the effects have only been short-term.

This recent research might have found a way around the discomfort, as well as making the effects more long-term.

Throughout our waking hours, a chemical called adenosine builds up in the brain, eventually causing us to feel tired and go to sleep.

By regulating the release of neuron-controlling neurotransmitters by star-shaped brain cells called astrocytes, which affect the sleep-wake cycle, scientists were able to mimic the effects of sleep deprivation in mice.

The mice experienced a normal night’s sleep, but the levels of adenosine in their brains remained high enough to imitate the effects of sleep deprivation and reduce depressive-type symptoms.

One of the scientists involved in the research stated, “Potentially, new drugs that target this mechanism [astrocytic signaling] may provide rapid relief for psychiatric emergencies, as well as long-term alleviation of chronic depressive symptoms”.

In the future, those who suffer from depression, whether or not it is a symptom of brain trauma, could find more effective relief.