The participants were allowed to eat and drink water, but not coffee or cola. The findings were recently presented at the Acoustics '08 meeting in Paris. As expected, the sleep-deprived speakers gradually lost their ability to articulate, producing fewer detectible landmarks. Oddly enough, however, when such people hear themselves, they think they sound fine. Boyce explained that "people lose awareness of how clearly they are speaking when they are tired." In the future, the research may be used to train 911 employees, communication professionals, and therapists who work with the hearing impaired. Outside listeners, however, appear to have no trouble figuring out that the speaker missed some sleep. "Listeners seem to clue in on other aspects, like sighs, long breaths and pauses in the recording, or even yawns, if they are audible," Boyce said, adding that if the person can see the speaker, they may also detect visual cues, "like posture, skin tone, eye gaze" and more. Although not an optimal solution, Wake Forest University School of Medicine scientists have shown that the effects of sleep deprivation can be reversed when given a dose of the naturally occurring brain peptide orexin-A. This chemical, normally secreted by brain neurons, regulates sleep. The brains of sleep-deprived people produce it, but often not enough to achieve full alertness. "These findings are significant because of their potential applicability," said Samuel Deadwyler, a professor of physiology and pharmacology at Wake Forest. "This could benefit patients suffering from narcolepsy and other serious sleep disorders," he said, "but it also has applicability to shift workers, the military and many other occupations where sleep is often limited, yet cognitive demand remains high." Related Links: |
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