There are some people that are perfectly OK with getting less than the 8 hours of recommended shut-eye. Why is that? A team of neurologists from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) asked this question wondering whether it was sheer will power or genetics at play. They carried out a study which led to the discovery of a gene that could have a direct impact on how much someone sleeps. They reported on their findings in the journal Neuron.
The study shows that people with the single-letter gene mutation appear to be able to function well on only six hours of sleep without any of the adverse health effects associated with sleep deprivation. People without that single-letter gene mutation, on the other hand, will become moody, in serious need of a coffee, and even at risk of damaging their health with just six hours of sleep.
Senior author Louis Ptáček, a neurologist at UCSF, said in a statement:
It’s remarkable that we know so little about sleep, given that the average person spends a third of their lives doing it. This research is an exciting new frontier that allows us to dissect the complexity of circuits in the brain and the different types of neurons that contribute to sleep and wakefulness.
This same team that conducted the study had already linked (10 years ago) a different gene to how much sleep we need. That time it was an inherited mutation in a gene called DEC2. Those that had it averaged only 6.25 hours of sleep per night, while those lacking the mutation averaged 8.06 hours.
This time around, the researchers found a group of natural short sleepers that didn’t have the DEC2 mutation which led them to find the new gene. They screened the people for genes that were different and found one that appeared to affect neurons and their levels of activity in the dorsal pons (a brain region known to control the stages of sleep) – called ADRB1.
Ptáček said:
Sleep is complicated. We don’t think there’s one gene or one region of the brain that’s telling our bodies to sleep or wake. This is only one of many parts.
To learn more about it, they genetically engineered mice to carry the mutated ADRB1 variant. Those mice ended up sleeping on average 55 minutes less than regular mice! On top of that, those mice were more active during wakefulness and REM (rapid eye movement), the deep stage of sleep associated with dreaming (although the activity was quiet during non-REM). Overall, the ADRB1 mutation seemed to affect the circadian rhythm of the mice. They believe the same could be for people.
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