Wakefulness is a state of activity of the somatic nervous system , which is the opposite of sleep , which is designed to relax this system. In adults, wakefulness and sleep are two basic physiological conditions that occur cyclically, with about 2/3 days falling on wakefulness.
The state of wakefulness, like sleep, can be studied objectively by registering the bioelectric activity of the brain. Wakefulness is characterized by the appearance of alpha and beta waves in the EEG .
Brain Wake
Wakefulness occurs through the complex interaction of several neurotransmitter systems that occurs in the brain stem and passes through the brain, hypothalamus, thalamus, and basal forebrain [1] . The posterior hypothalamus plays a key role in maintaining the cortical activation underlying wakefulness. Several systems arising in this part of the brain control the transition from wakefulness to sleep and sleep to wakefulness. Histamine neurons in some parts of the posterior hypothalamus project onto the entire brain and identify the system that awakens from sleep in the brain [2] . Another key system is one that provides the production of orexins (also known as hypocretins) that affect neurons. The lack of orexins has been called the cause of narcolepsy [3] .
It has been suggested that the fetus is not awake. He wakes up only at birth, due to the stress of the birth process and activation of the blue spot [4] .
Bibliography
- Bogusław Kazimierz Gołąb, Władysław Zygmunt Traczyk, Michał Karasek: Anatomia i fizjologia człowieka: podręcznik dla studentów farmacji. Warszawa: Państwowy Zakład Wydawnictw Lekarskich, 1986, s. 401. ISBN 83-200-1075-6 .
Notes
- ↑ Brown, RE (2012). "Control of Sleep and Wakefulness." Physiological Reviews 92: 1087-1187. DOI: 10.1152 / physrev.00032.2011. PMID 22811426 .
- ↑ Takahashi, K (2006). "Neuronal activity of histaminergic tuberomammillary neurons during wake-sleep states in the mouse." Journal of Neuroscience 26 (40): 10292-8. DOI: 10.1523 / JNEUROSCI.2341-06.2006. PMID 17021184 .
- ↑ Chemelli, RM (1999). "Narcolepsy in orexin knockout mice: molecular genetics of sleep regulation." Cell 98 (4): 437-51. DOI: 10.1016 / S0092-8674 (00) 81973-X. PMID 10481909 .
- ↑ Lagercrantz, H (2009). "The birth of consciousness." Early human development 85 (10 Suppl): S57-8. DOI: 10.1016 / j.earlhumdev.2009.08.08.017. PMID 19762170 .