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   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    Deep-sleep brain waves predict blood sugar control    
      
     Date:   
         July 7, 2023   
     Source:   
         University of California - Berkeley   
     Summary:   
         Researchers have uncovered a potential mechanism in humans that   
         explains how and why deep-sleep brain waves at night are able to   
         regulate the body's sensitivity to insulin, which in turn improves   
         blood sugar control the next day. It's an exciting advance because   
         sleep is a modifiable lifestyle factor that could now be used as   
         part of a therapeutic and painless adjunct treatment for those   
         with high blood sugar or Type 2 diabetes.   
      
      
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   Researchers have known that a lack of quality sleep can increase a   
   person's risk of diabetes. What has remained a mystery, however, is why.   
      
   Now, new findings from a team of sleep scientists at the University   
   of California, Berkeley, are closer to an answer. The researchers   
   have uncovered a potential mechanism in humans that explains how and   
   why deep-sleep brain waves at night are able to regulate the body's   
   sensitivity to insulin, which in turn improves blood sugar control the   
   next day.   
      
   "These synchronized brain waves act like a finger that flicks the   
   first domino to start an associated chain reaction from the brain,   
   down to the heart, and then out to alter the body's regulation of blood   
   sugar," said Matthew Walker, a UC Berkeley professor of neuroscience   
   and psychology and senior author of the new study. "In particular, the   
   combination of two brain waves, called sleep spindles and slow waves,   
   predict an increase in the body's sensitivity to the hormone called   
   insulin, which consequentially and beneficially lowers blood glucose   
   levels."  The researchers say this is an exciting advance because sleep   
   is a modifiable lifestyle factor that could now be used as part of a   
   therapeutic and painless adjunct treatment for those with high blood   
   sugar or Type 2 diabetes.   
      
   Scientists also noted an additional benefit besides the potential new   
   mechanistic pathway.   
      
   "Beyond revealing a new mechanism, our results also show that these   
   deep-sleep brain waves could be used as a sensitive marker of someone's   
   next-day blood sugar levels, more so than traditional sleep metrics,"   
   said Vyoma D. Shah, a researcher at Walker's Center for Human Sleep   
   Science and co-author of the study. "Adding to the therapeutic relevance   
   of this new discovery, the findings also suggest a novel, non-invasive   
   tool -- deep-sleep brain waves -- for mapping and predicting someone's   
   blood sugar control."  The team's findings were published today in the   
   journal Cell Reports Medicine.   
      
   For years, researchers have studied how the coupling of non-rapid eye   
   movement sleep spindles and deep, slow brain waves corresponded to an   
   entirely different function -- that of learning and memory. Indeed, the   
   same team of UC Berkeley researchers previously found that deep-sleep   
   brain waves improved the ability of the hippocampus -- the part of the   
   brain associated with learning -- to retain information.   
      
   But this new research builds on a 2021 rodent study and reveals a novel   
   and previously unrecognized role for these combined brain waves in humans   
   when it comes to the critical bodily function of blood sugar management.   
      
   The UC Berkeley researchers first examined sleep data in a group of 600   
   individuals. They found that this particular coupled set of deep-sleep   
   brain waves predicted next-day glucose control, even after controlling for   
   other factors such as age, gender and the duration and quality of sleep.   
      
   "This particular coupling of deep-sleep brain waves was more predictive   
   of glucose than an individual's sleep duration or sleep efficiency,"   
   said Raphael Vallat, a UC Berkeley postdoctoral fellow and co-author   
   of the study. "That indicates there is something uniquely special about   
   the electrophysiological quality and coordinated ballet of these brain   
   oscillations during deep sleep."  Next, the team then set out to explore   
   the descending pathway that might explain the connection between these   
   deep-sleep brain waves sending a signal down into the body, ultimately   
   predicting the regulation of blood glucose.   
      
   The findings from the team reveal an unfolding set of steps that could   
   help explain how and why these deep-sleep brain waves are related to   
   superior blood sugar control. First, they found that stronger and more   
   frequent coupling of the deep-sleep brain waves predicted a switch in the   
   body's nervous system state into the more quiescent and calming branch,   
   called the parasympathetic nervous system. They measured that change   
   in the body and the shift to this low-stress state using heart rate   
   variability as a proxy.   
      
   Next, the team turned its attention to the final step of blood sugar   
   balance.   
      
   The researchers further discovered that this deep sleep switch to the   
   calming branch of the nervous system further predicted an increased   
   sensitivity of the body to the glucose-regulating hormone called insulin,   
   which instructs cells to absorb glucose from the bloodstream, preventing   
   a deleterious blood sugar spike.   
      
   That's particularly important for people trying to back away from   
   hyperglycemia and Type 2 diabetes.   
      
   "In the electrical static of sleep at night, there is a series of   
   connected associations, such that deep-sleep brain waves telegraph a   
   recalibration and calming of your nervous system the following day,"   
   Walker said. "This rather marvelous associated soothing effect on   
   your nervous system is then associated with a reboot of your body's   
   sensitivity to insulin, resulting in a more effective control of blood   
   sugar the next day."  The researchers subsequently replicated the same   
   effects by examining a separate group of 1,900 participants.   
      
   "Once we replicated the findings in a different cohort, I think we   
   actually started to feel more confident in the results ourselves,"   
   Walker said. "But I'll wait for others to replicate it before I truly   
   start believing, such is my British skepticism."  The scientists said   
   the research is particularly exciting given the potential clinical   
   significance years down the line. Diabetes treatments already on the   
   market can sometimes be difficult for patients to adhere to. The same   
   is true of the recommended lifestyle changes, including different eating   
   habits and regular exercise.   
      
   Sleep, however, is a largely painless experience for most people.   
      
   And while sleep is not going to be the single magic bullet, the prospect   
   of new technologies that can safely alter brain waves during deep sleep   
   that this new research has uncovered may help people better manage their   
   blood sugar. That, the research team said, is reason for hope.   
      
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   Journal Reference:   
      1. Raphael Vallat, Vyoma D. Shah, Matthew P. Walker. Coordinated human   
         sleeping brainwaves map peripheral body glucose homeostasis. Cell   
         Reports Medicine, 2023; 101100 DOI: 10.1016/j.xcrm.2023.101100   
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   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/07/230707153826.htm   
      
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