Ava Austi
AP Biology
Current Event #10
December 6, 2017
“Lack of sleep could cause mood disorders in teens”
American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. "Lack of sleep could cause mood disorders in teens." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 6 December 2017.
In the article, “Lack of sleep could cause mood disorders in teens” from Science Daily, it discusses chronic sleep deprivation in teenagers and how it is effecting their lifestyles. University of Pittsburgh's Peter Franzen and Erika Forbes invited 35 participants, aged 11.5-15 years, into a sleep lab for two nights. Half the participants slept for 10 hours, while the other half slept only four hours. A week later, they came back to the lab for another two nights and adopted the opposite sleep schedule from their initial visit. Each time they visited the lab, the participants underwent brain scans while playing a game that involved receiving monetary rewards of $10 and $1. At the end of each visit, the teens answered questions that measured their emotional functioning, as well as depression symptoms.The researchers found that sleep deprivation affected the putamen, an area of the brain that plays a role in goal-based movements and learning from rewards. When participants were sleep-deprived and the reward in the game they played was larger, the putamen was less responsive. In the rested condition, the brain region didn't show any difference between high- and low-reward conditions. Franzen and Forbes also found connections between sleep restriction and mood: after a night of restricted sleep, the participants who experienced less activation in the putamen also reported more symptoms of depression. This is consistent with findings, from a large literature of studies on depression and reward circuitry, that depression is characterized by less activity in the brain's reward system. The results suggest that sleep deprivation in the tween and teen years may interfere with how the brain processes rewards, which could disrupt mood and put a person at risk of depression, as well as risk-taking behavior and addiction.
Without a doubt, sleep deprivation is negatively impacted teenagers all around the globe. Chronic sleep deprivation - which can involve staying up late, and waking up early for work or school - has become a way of life for both kids and adults, especially with the increasing use of phones and tablets late into the night. But this social jet lag poses some serious health and mental health risks: new research finds that for teenagers, even a short period of sleep restriction could, over the long-term, raise their risk for depression and addiction. Personally, I know that my lack of sleep due to schoolwork and even the distraction of my phone or computer is affecting the way I perform in school and/or in sports. For the next generation, I can only imagine that technology will become a greater distraction because younger kids are growing up with electronics by their sides. Considering that this is such a vast issue, something needs to be done in order to benefit the lives of teenagers. There is no argument against those who say sleep deprivation is impacting the lives of teenagers.
I thought this article was very interesting but at the same time, very straightforward. I chose this article because it is such a large impact on teenagers in our societies today. I thought the information in the article was very easy to understand; there was not a point when I was reading where I found myself confused. I would have liked if the article included quotes from Peter Franzen and Erika Forbes who performed the study. Then, I would have been able to incorporate quotes into my review while also getting a better understanding of their opinions. Despite this, I believe the author did a excellent job of addressing the issue of chronic sleep deprivation in teens.
Jack Kochansky
ReplyDeleteAP Biology EF Even
Mr. Ippolito
13 December 2017
Lack of sleep could cause mood disorders in teens
By The American College of Neuropsychopharmacology
American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. "Lack of sleep could cause mood disorders in teens." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 6 December 2017.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/12/171206090624.htm
In this current event review, Ava did a very good job of detailing a study that has a lot to do with every one of us: teens who do not get enough sleep every night. First of all, her choice of an article was very good and relevant to us because we all enjoy getting enough sleep, but it is almost impossible to with all of our schoolwork, extracurriculars, and procrastination. She did a very good job choosing something that concerns every one of us. It highlights the actual mental health impacts of sleep deprivation, including depression and concentration. Ava also does a very good job of detailing the procedures in the study, including referring to the researcher’s names and even noting how much money was used to incentivize the subjects to perform as well as possible in their tests. This shows an attention to detail that underlines a good understanding of what happened in this study. At the same time, she strongly points out the importance of these studies and how their implications could be far-reaching in our lives, especially as teenagers. For example, she points out that most teens do not get enough sleep on a nightly basis, and that lack of rest can actually lead to depression and tendencies of addiction. Today, it seems like the numbers of people with these problems are fairly high, and although we cannot as of yet prove any causation, there is certainly a correlation with lack of sleep. Beyond that, even, Ava points out that she does not get enough sleep per night, and everything feels more boring and difficult when one is sleepy. This likely contributes to the ever-growing sense of stress that students feel in middle and high school.
However, there were also one or two things that Ava could have done to further strengthen her review. For example, even at the end of her review, she acknowledges that she did not include any quotes from the researchers because the article itself did not include any. While this is certainly a good explanation for why she did not quote the researchers, she could have quoted the article itself to lend her review just a little more credibility. She also could have gone into a little bit more detail in her critique paragraph. She briefly shares things that she liked and thought could use improvement in the article, but she does not really explain it. If she had gone into even more detail about how the article was straightforward or given some other examples of strengths of the article, it would have been even better than it already was.
I think that almost all teenagers can agree that if we could get one more hour of sleep per night, it would significantly improve our quality of life and general happiness. However, in our fast-moving world full of assignments and distractions, that can be very hard. But articles like this make you consider that perhaps, it is worth watching one less Youtube video to get those extra few minutes of rest. At the same time, teachers and adults may find studies like this relevant because no one wants children to be depressed, so some particularly intense schools may find it productive to scale back on the workload at times and avoid busy work that does not add much to the class. As new research emerges about the widespread effects of sleep deprivation on young adults, it might just do something to improve everyone’s habits to create a happier, better-rested school environment.
Mia Gradelski
ReplyDeleteMr. Ippolito
AP Biology
December 30, 2017
American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. "Lack of sleep could cause mood
disorders in teens." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 6 December 2017. ScienceDaily,
ScienceDaily, www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/12/171206090624.htm.
Throughout Ava’s review, she has provided descriptive details and a deep understanding of the issue of lack of sleep, specifically for teens. As I began to read her review, she did an excellent job providing background information regarding how much sleep an average teenager should receive and what pros and cons are present. What was interesting to me was that she cited examples such as the “monetary rewards of $10 and $1” to get the audience intrigued into the study, which I thought was a very interesting writing technique. In addition, Ava lead a nice segway into evidence that she provided several times for example, “The researchers found that sleep deprivation affected the putamen, an area of the brain that plays a role in goal-based movements and learning.” Lastly, as she went into her second body paragraph, I liked reading the last sentence which ties into her own struggles with lack of sleep as she continues, “considering that this is such a vast issue, something needs to be done in order to benefit the lives of teenagers.” This line not only presents a clear understanding of this issue, but addresses it in a manner that it is a big one that is thought upon constantly as the modern era evolves.
Although Ava’s review was fascinating to read about since it impacted my generation and specifically my well being, at times I thought she could have improved either upon her writing skills or the way she gathered evidence into her argument. One weakness that I had found was towards the end when she had reflected upon the article. She says, “I thought this article was very interesting but the same time, very straightforward. I would’ve liked to hear more of her relationship with technology and if there are any ways people, specifically teenagers can prevent lack of sleep, as mentioned briefly in the article which she had left off. In order to improve upon this, Ava should of looked through the article closely examining all evidence that is presented so she can relieve readers that there an option in how teenagers can get more sleep. In addition, I felt overwhelmed by all of the statistics and evidence she had provided in the first paragraph. I would’ve liked to of seen the evidence put into her own words. This not only made me lost but confused especially when she wrote, “ University of Pittsburgh’s Peter Franzen and Erika Forbes invited 35 participants , aged 11.5-15 years…” To improve upon this, I would recommend doing the same process as with the first weakness, which is going through and marking all the evidence provided and organizing which ones are key to explain the main theme of the article.
Overall, I thought Ava’s article was especially interesting because it discusses the effects of lack of sleep for teenagers which is most prevalent in my age, which is one of the reasons I chose this article. I related to this article deeply and it taught me resourceful facts on the importance of sleep. From reading this article, I have a deep concern for the amount of sleep teens are getting and I believe it is mostly because of school work and technology. Yet, as the world evolves with new technology being placed into our hands everyday, barely any changes are being done to prevent lack of sleep in teenagers. This leads to the question, are schools or tech companies to blame?