How the little blue point of the brain regulates your sleep

The Locus Coeruleus emerges as a new major area of ​​research, with many important functions such as the regulation of our attention and our sleep.

Anyone who suffers from insomnia knows the impatience and frustration that accompanies insomnia, when you have trouble turning the lights in your head and removing his inner voice. You aspire to a button or a dial that could instantly alleviate all this mental activity.

The idea of ​​a mental gradator is not quite as far -fetched as it might seem. Most neuroscientists are now suitable that our Awakening exists on a kind of continuum. He is coordinated by a Complex network of brain regionsAt the heart of which is a small package of neurons known as “Locus coeruleus”, Latin for “Bleu Point”.

This is a literal description: the neurons of the locus coeruleus are the color of the sapphire of the production of a particular neurotransmittercalled norrépinephrine. It is also an index of the blue point function, because norepinephrine controls our physiological and psychological excitation.

For a long time, scientists assumed that the locus coeruleus was sleeping during sleep, but it now becomes clear that it is never completely silent, with low levels of intermittent activity that can regulate the depths of our heights. A better understanding of this process can help treat disturbed sleep associated with conditions such as anxiety.

The locus coeruleus is in the brainstem, just above the back of the neck – and contains approximately 50,000 cellsA small part of the 86 billion neurons in the average central nervous system. Doctor of Marie Antoinette Félix Vicq d’Azyr was the first to note its existence at the end of the 18th century – but for a long time, it failed to attract new attention.

Who started to change in the 20th century, when it became clear that the The blue pigment of Locus Coeruleus played a key role in brain signaling. Noradrenaline (also known as noradrenaline) increases the risk that a neuron “increases” with electric current. When they become active, the cells of the locus coeruleus pass bundles of this neurotransmitter along their projections to other regions of the brain – improving communication between the neurons of this area.

There is nuances to this process. Depending on the types of receptors they have, some neurons are more sensitive to the smallest quantities of norepinephrine, while others only meet higher thresholds. This means that, as locus coeruleus activity increases, it will begin to affect certain areas of the brain more than others, which can have dramatic effects on things like Our concentration, our concentration and our creativity.

Equipment 1: Very soft activity in the blue point. The low levels of norepinephrine mean that our attention is diffuse and that our mind was walking from thought to thought.

Equipment 2: moderate shooting in the blue point, accompanied by occasional peaks in response to the most relevant stimuli. The prefrontal cortex, which is involved in self -control and abstract thinking, is the most sensitive to this concentration of noradrenaline. We can find easier to stay focused on intellectual tasks in this brain.

Equipment 3: A constantly high shot in the blue point, which releases high levels of noradrenaline. It is starting to trigger activity in the brain regions associated with the “combat or flight response”, while the prefrontal cortex begins to stop. Thanks to increased communication between neurons, you are extremely sensitive to your environment, but it can be difficult to separate the signal from the noise. It becomes more difficult to concentrate and you can start to feel overwhelmed.

Given the role of the Blue Dot in the excitement, it is logical that it is the most silent at night during sleep. It is not entirely silent, however, but shoots sporadically – and recent research by Anita Lüthi at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland suggest that this activity could determine the quality of our chapuches.

Throughout the night, we alternate between different sleep stages. There is a “rapid eye movement” (REM), which – as its name suggests – is marked by the sparkle of our eyeballs. He is associated with a lively dream and is considered crucial for Treatment and consolidation of memories. A large part of our rest, however, is spent in sleep not rem (nrem), during which the The brain can engage in its ownEliminate cellular waste that can cause neuronal dysfunction if it is authorized to accumulate.

Measure Brain activity in somnagers miceLüthi noted that Nrem sleep was associated with temporary bursts of activity from Locus Coeruleus every 50 seconds. This seemed to galvanize the Thalami, a pair of egg -shaped regions that are in the middle of the brain and are involved in sensory treatment. Consequently, the animal was more sensitive to external stimuli, like noise – without completely wake up. “This generates this improved state of vigilance,” says Lüthi. “It really gives you this idea that awakening can be classified in the brain.”

Lüthi suggests that these regular periods of increased vigilance with potential threats would be essential to survival in nature. “Sleep is so fundamentally important, but it must be completed with a mechanism that allows a certain degree of awakening,” she said. “You must remain responsive to the environment.”

The appearance of paradoxical sleep was almost always associated with a low activity of Locus Coeruleus, suggesting that it also plays a central role in the transition to this dream state. “This transition to paradoxical sleep must be very well controlled,” explains Lüthi, “because in paradoxical sleep, we have atonia”. It is the temporary paralysis of our body, which prevents us from acting our dreams physically. “We are completely disconnected from the environment.”

Lüthi stresses that his experiences have been carried out in rodents, so we still have to confirm that the blue point plays a similar role in human sleep. If this is the case, it suspects that the modified activity of Locus Coeruleus could be involved in conditions such as anxiety which could contribute to the disorderly sleep. She found that the exposure of her laboratory mice to slight sources of stress – like knocking on their cage – increased the activity of the blue point and increased their vigilance throughout the night, resulting in fragmented sleep.

An emerging understanding of this neuronal path leads certain scientists to study if Different types of brain stimulation Can calm the blue point to improve sleep. A team in South Korea, for example, has recently tested a helmet This performs a small electric current on one of the nerves of the forehead which is connected to the blue point to temporarily reduce its activity – although it is not yet if it reduces insomnia.

For the moment, we can try to think a little more carefully about our behavior in the evening and to avoid too much stimulation just before we fall asleep. “If you force yourself to continue when you are tired, your brain faces by launching its equipment to provide maximum power to its machinery in difficulty – so much so that it is almost” stuck “. The simple fact of leaving our minds Relaxing before bedtime – without television, phones or tablets – has long been considered good “sleep hygiene“.

We can also take advantage of the two -way traffic between Locus Coeruleus and the body. The blue point is Part of the autonomous nervous systemwhich controls unconscious physiological functions such as breathing, heart rate and blood pressure. This is divided into two arms: the sympathetic nervous system, responsible for the triggering of a response to stress, and the parasympathetic nervous system, which puts the body for rest and relaxation. And it seems that we can selectively activate each arm with different physical activities.

A moderate to intense exercise – walking, running, rowing, cycling or boxing – is likely to kick the action of the sympathetic arm, Accelerate the Blue Point activity And Increase our mental excitement. This is great news if you feel growled in the morning and you have to wake up, but less useful when you try to calm your mind after a hard day of work. You may think that physical effort will tire you, but if you already have trouble sleeping, End -of -evening gymnasium visits are a bad idea.

We do not have a physical change that can refuse our mental activity at will. However, by managing our daily routine, and by exploiting the body-spirit connection, we will have a much better chance of obtaining the deep rest we need.

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