NOW THIS EXPLAINS A LOT

Studies done at the University of Wisconsin-Madison show that when you are sleep deprived there are parts of your brain that are actually asleep while you are awake.


Well duh!!! I could have told them that. How many times I have gone through my day on auto pilot when I have not slept well the night before.


When I used to have a few nights in a row when I didn't sleep I would notice time would pass and I really didn't remember what I had done during the day.


Did I really eat that bag of cookies? Nope, don't remember that.


Did I say I would put your clothes in the dryer two days ago? Nope don't remember that either. (I am sure that smell will come out when you wash it again)


The researchers kept the little rats in their study awake for 4 hours past their little bedtimes and then recorded the activity of their brain cells (neurons). I didn't know rats had bed times did you?

The rats appeared to be completely awake but their little neurons were not all firing. I know people who are like that all the time. Now maybe they have a good excuse.


The rats were taught a  new task to measure their responses. They were reaching out for a sugar pellet. The more sleep deprived they were the harder it was for them to grab the sugar pellet. Their motor skills were affected.


Think back to my lack of memory about the bag of cookies. I told you I didn't eat them all. I probably wouldn't have been able to actually grab them being in my sleep deprived state.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.