1. Insomnia’s Effects on Nervous System Tassa Markman Megan Lagapa Tyler V. Schiller Richard Guanzon 4 TH PERIOD BIOLOGY

2. What is Insomnia? Insomnia: not a disease, but a symptom The difficulty to fall and/or stay asleep at night, or at all The person is unable to stay fully awake, concentrate or accomplish daily tasks

3. WTF does it do to the Nervous System? Sleep = regeneration of brain and body In certain states of rest, neuron regeneration happens within cerebral cortex and new memories, synaptic connections formed Without sleep, neurons might start to malfunction => brain is unable to receive and send new messages easily => body experiences cognitive (mental) difficulties

4. Symptoms and affected parts of brain Insomnia mainly affects central nervous system Temporal lobe: slurred speech Prefrontal lobe: Irritability, difficulty concentrating and focusing on daily tasks Parietal lobe: body begins to slow itself down to be in a state of rest (ex.: falling asleep in class) Losing 12 straight hours of sleep has same effect on the body as one to two alcoholic beverages

5. BIBLIOGRAPHY IMAGES “A Woman Unable to Sleep.” Cartoon. Fotosearch. 2 May 2009.http://www.fotosearch.com/illustration/insomnia.html “Insomnia." Cartoon. Educational Coloring Pictures. 2 May 2009.http://www.edupics.com/en-coloring-pictures-pages-photo- insomnia-i11767.html "Insomnia Cartoon." Cartoon. The Cartoon Blog. 2 May 2009.http://www.cartoonchurch.com/blog/category/household- hints/ "Labeled Diagram of Brain." Online Image. Wellsphere. 2 May 2009.http://www.wellsphere.com/brain-health-article/brain-teasers- spot-the-difference/31948 RESEARCH Serendip's Exchange. 2 May 2009.http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node/1690 WebMD. 2 May 2009.http://www.webmd.com/sleep- disorders/insomnia