A Reflection On The 12 Brain Rules

Sleep is a huge part of our lives. On average, we need anywhere from 7-10 of sleep, depending on age. However, few people, especially students, actually get the amount of sleep they should be receiving every night. You might be wondering, its only a couple of hours, why is this a big deal? Actually, sleep deprivation can have a huge impact on your day. According to the article “The Cure for Brain Fog” by Toni Gerber Hope, “lack of sleep has such a profound effect on our brains, making us forgetful, unable to concentrate, grumpy, accident-prone or clumsy”. Anyone who has lost sleep has felt these symptoms and they occur even slightly if one gets less sleep than necessary. There are many diagnoses for sleep deprivation but I believe that the rising issue is technology.

Imagine: a world where a biological necessity is not seen as a priority, and adolescent’s educations are suffering. This is how schools’ think about sleep.What all human beings need to survive is being put on the back burner by most schools in America- sleep(11a). It has been proven through the process of scientific research that sleep is necessary on the same level as food or activity. Unfortunately, sleep deprivation is a chronic health problem that many youths suffer from today. Teens are naturally predisposed to go to sleep around 11 pm, but are forced to wake up around 6:15, not allowing any time for adequate sleep (“Backgrounder: Later school start Times” 1). Irregular sleep patterns during teenage years can cause long-term

Sleep researchers often attempt to uncover methods permitting humans to sleep less, but still function at an acceptable level. One example of researchers finding ways to cheat sleeping is the study of polyphasic sleep patterns. Research on polyphasic sleep patterns asserts that a person can break up their sleep into portions, thus having extra time to be productive. Articles that encourage polyphasic sleep also ambitiously play with the title’s diction, trying to spike interest, but instead misguides students to develop a delusion and assume sleep is unimportant. Even with scientists denouncing polyphasic sleeping as a myth, students still consider sleeping as a waste of time, and can be more productive by staying up all night doing homework. Although students misconceive that depriving sleep enhances work efficiency, not enough sleep is detrimental to health, because it stimulates loss of physical health and decreases brain function.

Developmental molecular biologist John Medina attempts to examine how society and the current world we live in has obscured the brain’s natural sense in his book, Brain Rule. Medina processes this examination by investigating twelve specific “rules” of the brain, and how to maximize their efficiency while still operating in the present. He studies how the brain has changed and evolved, the differences of other persons’ brains, and what affects the brain. Almost immediately in the book, Medina states the fact that he will be using anecdotes and interesting emotional appeals to keep the reader interested because he himself knows that is how the brains of the readers work.

    Sleep is a complicated process that many of us take for granted. Without sleep, we would die. Sleep has many benefits, but unfortunately some people with sleep disorders or people with night shift jobs are unable to experience the benefits of sleep. The majority of people in the world face sleep deprivation because they do not get the recommended eight hours of sleep a night. Since many people are constantly in a sleep deprived state, they are unaware

Last night I attended a lecture at Lamar University about how the brain functions and how to improve it. Dr. Medina, author of Brain Rules, discussed important topics about the brain. In his first segment he discussed how overly stressed brain does not function to its best ability. He said stressed brains do not learn as easily as non-stressed brains. Secondly, he discussed the executive function which is neurologically based cognitive skills and emotional self-regulation. Those with high executive functions will go on to be better leaders, get a higher salary, and have better relationships. The executive function can be tested as early as age four, and the executive function can determine how high one will score on the SAT. Lastly, he discussed

Sleep as a whole is an extremely critical factor to human health , especially the well-being of full-time students’ due to today’s growingly time-consuming education system. Sleep plays an essential role in mental and physical health, as well as overall well-being. It is clear that sleep is crucial, however, who has the time for the recommended 8 hours of sleep a night, as a minimum? Full-time students especially are at high-risk for sleep deprivation – which has very damaging consequences. These consequences range from weight gain, memory issues, high blood pressure, poor balance and much more. A review of 16 studies have even shown that sleeping for less than 6-8 hours a night increases the risk of early death by about 12%. This information

Many young people forget the importance of sleep in their lives when they begin their college career and should be reminded of how necessary it is. It has been estimated that "40% of

According to the National Sleep Foundation, sleeping makes up one third of a person’s lifetime. Despite that fact, people do not get nearly enough sleep to be productive.

It is estimated that only 15 percent actually get these amounts (Kids Suffer from Sleep Deprivation). This is particularly important for students who wish to do well in school. Dr. Carl Hunt, the director of the National Center on Sleep Disorders Research, is spearheading a sleep campaign. Her philosophy is, “Sleep well, do well.” This is something that shouldn’t be taken to lightly. Sleep problems effect about 70 million Americans of all ages. Teens often have problems with daytime sleepiness. The old idea of early to bed, early to rise isn’t necessarily the best answer. Society is simply asking to much of teens (Sleep experts to teens). A combination of school, work, study and leisure, leaves very little time left for sleep. Being deprived of sleep definitely has an effect on how well students do in school and may be putting their health at risk. College students who stay up all night to study for a test or write a big paper that’s due often have no choice because of the pressures to do well and succeed, but at what price do they pay?

Sleep is very important to people and their bodies. As said by Thomas Dekker, “Sleep is that golden chain that ties health and our bodies together.” Since it holds our bodies together, it is natural that we would fall apart without it. But, what are some ways to make sure we get an adequate amount of sleep each night? Well, the fascinating article “Teachers, Students, and Sleep” by Dave Stuart Jr. goes into great detail about things that may be causing sleep deprivation, and how someone would be able to change these habits to form beneficial ones.

As the center of the nervous system and the control unit of all the organs in the human body, the brain is the most intricate organ of them all. Controlling everything from breathing to sleeping, to walking and talking, your brain is a single organ and yet the most confusing. With many different parts and billions and billions of neurons each connected by synapses, the brain is too complex for any person to ever map out or to completely understand, making it especially difficult because no two brains are the same. Medina attempts to unwrap the rules of the brain and what he and many others have worked to figure out. Brain Rules describes the 12 ways to see you and your brain in a different light. Exercise, attention, sleep, stress, and vision

Obtaining enough sleep plays an important role as a high school student, but what if obtaining the right amount of sleep is almost impossible? The inability to sleep is called insomnia, and that’s what I struggle with. Being a student with insomnia is difficult, but trying not to fall asleep is even more complicated. Not having the proper amount of sleep, my brain tends to not function. My brain becomes all mushy and it's hard to concentrate. Important information goes in one ear and out the other, but not intentionally. School work and prepwork seems to be forgotten and put aside, because I forget that I have work to do. Even though there are rare moments when I do sleep, I wake with a ghastly look on my face from a horrid nightmare. Then I

Sleep is essential; every living things needs sleep. Sleep is the body 's way of cleansing itself; without it our bodies could not function. Sleep has multiple health benefits effecting every aspect of our lives; sleep is so essential for the body that humans spend 1/3 of their lives asleep. Humans have been fascinated with sleep throughout history; several early scientist like Aristotle in 350 CE who formed a hypothesis that sleep was a form of physical renewal (Borel, 2014). Humans know little about sleep and see it as a inconvenience, we take sleep for granted and the repercussion of not getting enough sleep is not healthy. Sleep deprivation impacts ones overall health by contributing to multiple primary biological functions.

The National Sleep Foundation describes sleep deprivation as damaging and, in extreme circumstances, life-threatening (Orzech, Salafsky & Hamilton 2011). Sleep deprivation is defined as ‘obtaining inadequate sleep to support adequate daytime alertness’ (Hershner & Chervin 2014). Sleep is necessary for memory consolidation, learning, effective decision-making and critical thinking, with sleep deprivation widely recognized as a significant public health issue (Gilbert & Weaver 2010). Many university students experience sleep deprivation with 86% of students reporting that is was a regular occurrence to wake up tired (Gaultney 2010). Additionally, 59% of young adults self reported going to bed late and not getting enough sleep (Gaultney 2010). This may be due to stress and physiological considerations, disruptive student living, social events, technological distractions, and drugs/alcohol consumption whilst at university (Gaultney 2010).