STUDYING all night and not getting enough sleep can have a negative effect on the memory, says Professor Carl Bazil, a specialist in sleep, sleep disorders and memory.

Bazil, Professor of Clinical Neurology, College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University, delivered the Wilbert Jeffrey Smith Wilson Memorial Lecture ‘Sleep, Memory Loss & Epilepsy’ at the 11th symposium of the Association of Consultant Physicians of Jamaica (ACPJ) at the Faculty of Medical Sciences on September 15.

Bazil told the physicians and student doctors that “sleep is not just to ward of drowsiness, nor is it to allow the brain to rest. The brain is very active during sleep and a lot is happening, particularly with regard to consolidation of various forms of memory and procedural learning.”

He said that although the exact processes involved are not known, sleep — particularly slow wave sleep (deep sleep) — is known to be critical for learning.

“You learn when you sleep — that’s when you consolidate information and come up with answers, and one night of sleep deprivation can affect learning,” Dr Bazil said.

He explained that “quality sleep is essential for most if not all types of learning” and that “sleep deprivation can contribute to problems with memory and attention as well as cognitive problems and neurological problems”.

Continued sleep deprivation decreases alertness, and the accumulated result is ‘sleep debt’ which cannot be corrected simply by one night of full rest, he said.

“For example, a student may stay up every night Monday to Friday studying, perhaps getting only five to six hours sleep per night and feel they can make it up by sleeping eight hours on Saturday or Sunday. This will not immediately eliminate sleep debt. You need quality sleep to make best use of the brain.”

Bazil said that students should strive for balance, allocating sufficient day time for studies and even napping during the day if possible. He said his best advice to any student is “sleep on it”.

Professor Carl Bazil (2nd left), professor of clinical neurology, Columbia University, with Dr Rosemarie Wright-Pascoe, president, Association of Consultant Physicians of Jamaica (ACPJ); Professor Michael Lee, consultant gastroenterologist, University of the West Indies; and Dr Amza Ali (right), immediate past president, ACPJ, at the 11th annual symposium of the ACPJ.