How Stress Affects Sleep

The study was done on mice to see whether stress can affect the brain and sleep. One set of mice were exposed to stress and their sleep brain waves were monitored. What was found was that the mice that were introduced to the stress had developed depression. This was shown through less interest in their daily activities and eat less. The regulation of stress was found to be part of the hippocampuses job. The was the hippocampus was involved was due to the release of stress hormones. Along with the combination of increased REM sleep and mixing in the stressors there is a change in mood. The brain wants the body to sleep more to reduce the stress that was induced. The increase in REM sleep is an early marker to show how the brain will attempt to compensate for the decreased state of mind.