4 ms·

Poor sleeping habits are filling our brains with neurotoxins?

10 points by robg 11y ago

gwern 11y ago
Talk about overstating the impact of the glymphatic system. If it really lead in a direct causal line to Alzheimer's, toxin overload, and a vicious loop spiraling into overload, this would already show up in the data as all sorts of things like short-sleepers (who never get as much sleep time as claimed is necessary) having death-sentences rather than appearing perfectly healthy, less sleep while young would predict massive mortality losses, etc. None of which seems to be true or the studies seem to be the reverse effect (bad health and aging cause bad sleep). And then there's the persistent doubts about whether the beta-amyloid hypothesis is correct in the first place... > Swart, who is also a leadership coach, has been instructing executives to sleep for years. She promotes techniques related to diet and exercise, and warns that sleeping next to your smartphone—the one that emits 3G and 4G signals all night—affects your brain patterns, restructuring your brain cells and likely preventing you from allowing your brain to clean out waste material properly. > Research published in 2007 has already found that the electrical radiation emitted from smart devices is picked up by electrodes inside our brains. Scientists are still trying to figure out just how much damage the electromagnetic signals emitted from WiFi equipment can actually do to the human brain. But by potentially preventing our brains from flushing beta-amyloid—just by being in close proximity—it’s clear these devices already have the potential for serious damage. Or as Lehrer's writeup says: > Although this research shows that cell phone transmissions can affect a person's brainwaves with persistent effects on behavior, Horne does not feel there is any need for concern that cell phones are damaging. The arousal effects the researchers measured are equivalent to about half a cup of coffee, and many other factors in a person's surroundings will affect a night's sleep as much or more than cell phone transmissions.

10 points by robg 11y ago

gwern 11y ago

Talk about overstating the impact of the glymphatic system. If it really lead in a direct causal line to Alzheimer's, toxin overload, and a vicious loop spiraling into overload, this would already show up in the data as all sorts of things like short-sleepers (who never get as much sleep time as claimed is necessary) having death-sentences rather than appearing perfectly healthy, less sleep while young would predict massive mortality losses, etc. None of which seems to be true or the studies seem to be the reverse effect (bad health and aging cause bad sleep). And then there's the persistent doubts about whether the beta-amyloid hypothesis is correct in the first place... > Swart, who is also a leadership coach, has been instructing executives to sleep for years. She promotes techniques related to diet and exercise, and warns that sleeping next to your smartphone—the one that emits 3G and 4G signals all night—affects your brain patterns, restructuring your brain cells and likely preventing you from allowing your brain to clean out waste material properly. > Research published in 2007 has already found that the electrical radiation emitted from smart devices is picked up by electrodes inside our brains. Scientists are still trying to figure out just how much damage the electromagnetic signals emitted from WiFi equipment can actually do to the human brain. But by potentially preventing our brains from flushing beta-amyloid—just by being in close proximity—it’s clear these devices already have the potential for serious damage. Or as Lehrer's writeup says: > Although this research shows that cell phone transmissions can affect a person's brainwaves with persistent effects on behavior, Horne does not feel there is any need for concern that cell phones are damaging. The arousal effects the researchers measured are equivalent to about half a cup of coffee, and many other factors in a person's surroundings will affect a night's sleep as much or more than cell phone transmissions.