Many people think the brain is constantly awake and alert. It has been thought that even when a person is asleep, the brain is still alert. A new study though shows that the brain falls asleep and wakes up all the time as well.
The brain, just like the rest of the body, also has some down time. At least parts of the brain take some time off when a person sleeps. But parts of the brain also rest even when a person is awake. This has been found out by a recent study made by Stanford researchers.
Tatiana Engel is a postdoctoral fellow and one of the authors of the study. Joining her in the study is Nicholas Steinmetz, a former graduate student. The study has been done in the lab of Tirin Moore, Professor of Neurobiology and one of the senior authors of the study.
The study has discovered that parts of the brain cycle on and off. Past studies have already shown that individual neurons go and off, but the study for the first time shows that groups of neurons do the same thing. The neurons will have periods of much activity and then go into a time of having less activity.
Kwabena Boahen, Professor of Bioengineering and Electrical Engineering and also one of the senior authors said the neurons would have an active phase, and then would suddenly have a much lower state of activity. This is constantly happening in the brain. This is more easily detected when a person is asleep than when the person is awake, according to Stanford News.
The team has studied monkeys that have been trained to be attentive to cues that something is going to change. When the cue is on, the researchers noted that a column of neurons that have registered the cue would become active, as Science Daily reports. The monkeys were found to be more attentive when the cues came on while the neurons have been in an active state.
The researchers right now are trying to find out why parts of the brain would have lower activity at times. Boahen has said that this might be because having all the neurons working would cost much energy. Having them go on cycles would require less energy to work. What is clear is that the brain falls asleep and wakes up all the time. A study has also looked into the possibility of body parts being regrown through the study of acorn worms.
