Giovanni Biggio, Emeritus Professor of Neuropsychopharmacology at the University of Cagliari (Unica), on 28 October in Rome, at the conference "Narration, trauma and health: from the individual to society"Will talk about how"Sleep deprivation is putting the brain of many children and teenagers under great stress"And will illustrate what they are"New forms of stress between epigenetics and psychopathology. "
The professor states that this "is a worldwide phenomenon". From some studies conducted it emerges that in the period 2007 - 2017 young people aged 8 to 18 have gone from 7 to 14 hours of connection, especially at night, thus decreasing and interrupting the hours of sleep. Teenagers, at night, instead of sleeping, stay awake to chat with smartphones or to use PCs and iPads. This aspect is extremely negative. This was also confirmed by secondary school teachers, who argue that after the first two hours of class, most of the class no longer pays attention.
Professor Biggio clarifies that the human brain becomes an adult between 25 and 30 years. It is therefore inevitable that "if people from 12 to 20 years do not sleep, neurogenism slows down. Melatonin, which regulates circadian rhythm and plays an important role in neuronal plasticity, is secreted by night, while cortisol, a molecule that monitors brain functions, activates in the morning. If you do not sleep melatonin is not secreted, our cortisol rises and your brain suffers ". Many teenagers, not sleeping for days, are subject to tremendous stress. From there the refusal to go to school, to eat, to socialize, and even more seriously, to psychopathology.
Professor Biggio, speaking of the lifestyles that young people lead today, adds: "in adolescents the cortex is not developed - if they do not sleep, because for example they have gone to the disco and have taken alcohol or smoked some drugs, then they are not able to give the brain that inhibitory input that an adult can give who has a fully formed brain. If the latter drinks he will not drive, young people instead drive and commit suicide because they do not know how to make the right decisions ”. Lack of sleep therefore makes bad decisions.
Today, deprivation of sleep can be observed even in the smallest ones who, since the age of 2 years, play with tools that keep them awake. Professor Boggi argues that "this is a source of stress for a developing brain and can lead to the onset of emotional, emotional and affective trauma".
Environmental impact positively or negatively changes the function of our genes in real time. The brain, depending on the environment in which one lives, changes both functionally and morphologically. In a person subjected to constant stress, the volume of the human hippocampus - the area of the brain important for cognitive processes, particularly memory - is reduced and the cortex becomes thinner.
Fortunately, concludes Biggio, the connection to the network and the use of various telematic tools certainly tend to change the human brain but if used in moderation during the day they do not cause damage.