It has been just revealed the fact that men and women handle sleep deprivation differently. Check out the latest reports about the matter below.
Sleep deprivation hits differently men and women
Staying up too late can have negative effects on the next day such as constant yawning and a foggy head. However, it seems that female individuals might be better at coping with lack of sleep than their male counterparts.
Two studies presented at Neuroscience 2023, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience being held in Washington D.C. from November 11-15, suggest that female rodents are more resilient to sleep deprivation as a result of their hormones.
One of these studies shows that hormonal changes in female mice make them more resilient than males when it comes to lack of sleep.
Meanwhile, the other study reveals that estrogen hormones influence sleep in rats and that this effect is moderated by a specific set of brain cells called astrocytes.
Sleep disruptions are more common in women than men, especially during puberty, menarche and menopause. Female sex hormones are believed to play a significant role in sleep regulation.
Studies indicate that around 35% to 50% of perimenopausal/menopausal women experience sleep problems, which is higher than the general population (approximately 15%).
According to Jessica Mong, a neuropharmacology professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and co-author of one of the studies, astrocyte cells in the preoptic area of the brain (which regulates sleep) could be responsible for how estrogen hormones affect sleep.
“Astrocytes are a type of glial cells (glial comes from the Latin meaning “glue”). It was thought that these glial cells, like the astrocyte were just holding the brain and the neurons together. In the past three decades, research has shown this is not the case. But a role for astrocytes in mediating sleep is a relativity recent finding. Moreover, a role in estrogen action over sleep is completely novel,” Mong said.
The researchers inhibited astrocytes in rats, and found that it prevented the action of estrogen on sleep, according to the latest reports.
