The globe is gearing to a 24-hour working system, workers being subjected to work for long hours with minimal rest. The effects of sleep depravity are real among the working class and the workaholics. Hippocampus is a very useful organ in the body that helps in memory storage, emotion control and spatial navigation of the body. The effects of sleep depravity greatly affect hippocampus and its functionality in the brain. This paper has also collated and thematically explores key information on the impacts of sleep deprivation and its effects on hippocampus organ. Sleep deprivation causes loss of memory consolidation, effects of conditional learning, emotional control and synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus lobe.
Lack of sleep is generally likely to disrupt memory consolidation in the brain. The three stages of memory formation include encoding, consolidation and retrieval (Prince & Abel, 2019). Sleep deprivation usually disrupts the consolidation stage leading to long term memory loss. Exposure to delayed sleep after the acquisition of learning interrupts molecular signaling, protein synthesis and mRNA which are deemed useful for memory stability (Prince & Abel, 2019). This, therefore, means that deprived sleep affects proper stability of memory in the hippocampus area.
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According to Laurel, Elizabeth, Allan, & Ted (2003), sleep deprivation and circadian rhythm also interfere with the consolidation of memory. For instance, in fear conditioning, sleep deprivation is observed to modify molecular structure and mechanism of protein kinase A and protein synthesis (Laurel et al. 2003). Lack of sleep inhibits learning of conditional fear stimuli in the amygdala (Laurel et al. 2003). The sensory modification response to fear develops upon exposure to limited sleep. Meaning that conditional learning and the ability of the amygdala to adequately respond to conditioned stimuli is minimal in sleep deprivation. The difficulty experienced in the interpretation of stimuli is inhibited because of affected neural function in the hippocampus (Laurel et al. 2003).
Lack of enough sleep is also associated with mood alteration and can eventually lead to anger issues (Saghir, Syeda, Muhammad & Abdalla, 2018). Incidences of sleep deprivation affect the ventral anterior cingulate cortex, therefore, leading to heightened responses of negative stimuli. Cases of sleep debt similarly contribute to emotional instability as far as the amygdala is concerned (Saghir et al., 2018). On that note, occurrences of sleep debt usually reduce the functionality of the medial prefrontal cortex in suppressing the roles of amygdala in emotional control and stability (Saghir et al., 2018). On the other hand, cases of minimal rapid eye movement influences change in receptor activity in the brain leading to limited controlled emotional capacity and mental resilience (Saghir et al., 2018). Workers who are exposed to a long period of night shift are usually having bad moods and weak immune system.
It is established that cyclic adrenaline monophosphate and adenosine that play a key role in the long-term potentiation of synaptic plasticity is affected amid deprivation of sleep. The long-term potentiation plays a long-lasting change in strengthening connection codes of synaptic connections (Alkadhi, 2013). Exposure to high levels of sleep depravity inhibits the induction of long-term potentiation in the hippocampus. The negative effects of sleep deprivation in the long term potentiation also limit focus.
In research, aspects of fundamental sensory functions of the hippocampal-dependent memory were observed to be affected under conditions of sleep depravity (Alkadhi, 2013). Sleep depravity influences disorganization and inactiveness of the prefrontal cortex. The resultant incidences of disrupted control of the prefrontal cortex usually lead to hallucinatory mental activities.
Lack of enough sleep reduces human productivity among industrial workers who are subjected to long periods of working hours with minimal rest or breaks ( Vecsey et al., 2009). Loss of attention and focus tend to creep in in such a scenario due to prolonged depletion of energy and inability to allow the brain to rest ( Vecsey et al., 2009). This ideology is also similar in the academic arena, book warmers who monotonously study with limited breaks usually subject their hippocampus to dismal function.
The effects of a lack of enough sleep also goes a long way in negatively influencing the mental capacities of self-worth that embeds in the limbic system. Individuals exposed to less sleep over a long period of time usually start developing careless and self-unworthiness (Alkadhi, 2013). Those individuals get themselves living in a compromised state of life. Limited emotional intelligence results from disrupted sensory functions of the hippocampus. The long-lasting effect of limited emotional control of stress and other daily life occurrences predisposes a person to poor choices in life ( Vecsey et al., 2009). That kind of life opens up avenues of depressions and increased stress hormone in the body.
The role of the hippocampus is also known to help in the navigation of maps and its usefulness in the survey. The hippocampus assists in consolidation of mapping memory that will eventually be retrieved and used (Howard, 2017). Howard mentions that the disruption of the hippocampus is observed to affect organizational cognitive of the brain. Some of the factors highlighted to affect retrieval of navigational information from the hippocampus is sleep deprivation ( Vecsey et al., 2009). The brain losses some details of trajectory maps due to limited time in encoding, consolidating and retrieving maps.
The above study by Howard also observes rats that were subjected to disrupted hippocampus showed diminished cognitive mapping strategies (Howard, 2017). These animals had lots of difficulties in identifying mapping strategies when tested. However, mapping strategies in animals does not rely entirely on hippocampus functions. Other mental faculties equally play a vital key in supporting spatial navigation. Nonetheless, the hippocampus is considered important in retrieving historical navigational surveys during spatial mapping.
Use of genome-wide microarray has shown changes in gene expression in the signaling of the hippocampus. In a study, genes such as Arc and Creb I was recorded to have changed due to exposure of sleep deprivation in the hippocampus (Prince & Abel, 2019). A group of genes were recorded to have gone up as far as regulation is concerned. Up-regulated genes upon exposure to deprived sleep include GTP signaling, unfolded protein and response chromatin. Other affected genes that also regulate themselves up are ATP binding, positive regulation and negative regulation of kinase activity.
On the other hand, the deprivation of sleep also causes downward regulation of some certain genes (Mirescu, Peters, Noiman, & Gould, 2006). Downward regulated genes include ubiquitination, translation, RNA-binding and processing, negative regulation of transcription and lastly cholesterol metabolism (Mirescu et al., 2006).
Sleep deprivation also disrupts some receptors in the hippocampus thus contribute to gradual memory loss. For instance, when the NMDA allows the expression of the LTP through increased ions of calcium. However, hippocampus subjection to sleep deprivation affects adequate activation of the glutamate receptor. This finally leads to alteration of receptors subunit composition, its surface expression and drastic reduction of ionic calcium. This, therefore, points to the fact that the generic composition of the hippocampus is adversely affected by sleep deprivation or sleep deficit.
Activation of cAMP and PKA by hippocampus is usually very critical in supporting molecular signaling of memory sections in the brain. These two molecular elements are targets during deep deprivation. Sleep deprivation interferes with cAMP and PKA in signaling pathway resulting in irregular maintenance of long-term potentiation. Reduced activities of cAMP and PKA, therefore, illustrates the change in molecular signaling of the hippocampus leading to memory loss and difficulty in memory retention.
Sleep deprivation, therefore, presents adverse effects information and retrieval of memory. In the field of neuroscience sleep deprivation also presents avenues of further research and programmatic measures in minimizing its effects. The industrial sector, especially the manufacturing industry has recorded fatigued workmanship due to long working hours without taking work shifts. The transport sector equally experiences accidents and loss of dear lives due to limited focus by drivers because of long distance traveling without taking rest.
The 21 st century is presenting a unique menace of people struggling with sleep depravity amid the realization of the world as a 24-hour economy system. The health workers need to prepare to deal with lots of related mental illness caused by sleep deprivation. A working population ought to formulate and commit to rest hours to restore energy and gained knowledge and skills.
References
Alkadhi, K., Zagaar, M., Ibrahim, A., Salim, S., & Aleisa, A. (2013). Neurobiological Consequences of Sleep Deprivation. Department of Pharmacological and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Houston, Texas, USA. doi: 10.2174/1570159X11311030001
Howard, E. (2017). REVIEW Where are you Going? The Neurobiology of Navigation The role of the hippocampus in navigation is a memory. doi:10.1152/jn.00005.2017.
Laurel, A.G., Elizabeth, A.H., Allan, I.P. & Ted, A (2003). Sleep Deprivation Selectively Impairs Memory Consolidation for Contextual Fear Conditioning. Neuroscience Graduate Group, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA. doi: 10.1101/lm.48803
Mirescu, C., Peters, J. D., Noiman, L., & Gould, E. (2006). Sleep deprivation inhibits adult neurogenesis in the hippocampus by elevating glucocorticoids. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , 103 (50), 19170-19175.
Prince, T.M., Wimmer, M., Choi, J., Havekes, R., Aton, S. & Abel, T (2013). Sleep deprivation during a specific 3-hour time window post-training impairs hippocampal synaptic plasticity and memory. Neuroscience Graduate Group, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. doi: 10.1016/j.nlm.2013.11.021
Saghir, Z., Syeda, J.N., Muhammad, A.S. & Abdalla, T.B.H. (2018). The Amygdala, Sleep Debt, Sleep Deprivation, and the Emotion of Anger: A Possible Connection? Department of Research, California Institute of Behavioral Neurosciences & Psychology, Fairfield, USA. doi: 10.7759/cureus.2912
Vecsey, C. G., Baillie, G. S., Jaganath, D., Havekes, R., Daniels, A., Wimmer, M., ... & Kim, S. S. (2009). Sleep deprivation impairs cAMP signalling in the hippocampus. Nature, 461(7267), 1122.
