Transcript
Your genes could impact how much deep sleep you get. And how well you handle sleep deprivation. We all have that one friend who can fall asleep anywhere, anytime, and wake up fully refreshed. Steve. But it turns out that ability is not just about practice, or substances. The sensation of sleepiness occurs due to a chemical called adenosine building up in our brain throughout the day. Creating what scientists call sleep pressure. And normal people call tiredness. Caffeine actually works by blocking adenosine receptors, making us feel it less. We have a gene called ADA that helps make an enzyme, that breaks down adenasey. But roughly 15% of people have a slightly shifted version of that gene that makes that breakdown process go 20% to 30% slower, which is a double-edged sword. A study back in 2012 found that people with this variant got more deep sleep with stronger delta waves, and they woke up less during the night. But when they were sleep-deprived during the day, they ended up feeling more tired and performed worse than people without the gene. I checked and I don't have this variant, but if you always feel like you're sleepier than those around you, this could be a culprit. We're entering a time where soon, not yet, But soon, if you go to a doctor with a problem, a regular part of his diagnostic process might be looking at your genes and figuring out which ones might be impacting your issue and help inform the treatments that they give you. Which is why I'm excited to be partnering with Illumina for this video. They're the ones that develop the technology and build the sequencing machines used by a lot of the researchers in this space. Enabling tons of amazing science.
Additional notes
@Illumina #partner To look this up in your own genetics, search for “rs73598374” - if the two letters you see are the same, you don’t have it! Note: this type of genetics operates based on averages. If you DO have this variant, it doesn’t mean that you will 100% get more deep sleep and handle sleep deprivation worse, just that it’s more likely for you than for other people without it. There are tons of other genes and lifestyle factors that influence sleep! #science #stem #genomics
References
- Original source notes.
- Functional ADA polymorphism increases sleep depth and reduces vigilant attention in humans - PMID: 21734253; DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhr173.