World Brain Day (World Brain Day 2025) is celebrated every year on 22 July. This day is celebrated to spread awareness about brain health. So we tried to know from the experts how the most common habit of the youth, i.e. staying up late at night, is harming their brain.

Night sleep is very important for our health. During this time the brain also rests itself, repairs and stores the day's memory. However, in today's lifestyle people stay awake till late at night, especially the youth. But do you know that lack of sleep can directly harm our brain (Sleep and Brain Health)?

So on the occasion of Brain Health Day (World Brain Day 2025), we learned from Dr. (Prof.) Kunal Bahrani (Clinical Director - Neurology, Maringo Asia Hospital Faridabad) what effect it has on our brain when we do not get enough sleep. Let's know about this.

Effects on memory and learning ability

During sleep, our brain organizes the day's activities and things learned. During deep sleep and REM sleep cycles, the brain stores new information to remember it for a long time. If sleep is not complete, this process gets disrupted, which  leads to memory loss  and difficulty in learning new things.

Decreased ability to focus and make decisions

Due to lack of sleep, the brain cells i.e. neurons are not able to function properly, which reduces the ability to think and understand. This directly affects our focus, reasoning and decision making ability. Not only this, the reaction time of people who do not get enough sleep also slows down, which increases the risk of accidents.

Side effects on mood swings and mental health

People who sleep less often feel irritable, stressed or depressed. This happens because lack of sleep over-activates the part of the brain called amygdala, which controls emotions. In addition, lack of sleep disturbs the balance of happy hormones like serotonin and dopamine, which increases the risk of depression and anxiety.

Damage to brain cells

Long-term sleep deprivation can damage brain cells. Lack of sleep can reduce the number of neurons in some parts of the brain. Also, during sleep, the brain clears toxic proteins, such as beta-amyloid, which are  linked to diseases like Alzheimer's . When sleep is not complete, these harmful proteins begin to accumulate, affecting the brain's ability to function.

Decreased creativity and problem solving

Sleep is also important for our creativity and innovative thinking. When we sleep, the brain finds solutions to problems by combining new information. When we do not get enough sleep, this process is disrupted, which reduces the number of new ideas.

Therefore, if you want to keep your brain healthy, it is important to get 7-9 hours of deep sleep every day. Lack of sleep not only affects your daily life, but in the long run it can also damage the structure of your brain. So give priority to your sleep and adopt a healthy lifestyle.

PC:Jagran