To Sleep. . .Perchance To Dream. . .

A few words about sleep: we need more of it! Truth be told, I am a huge fan of daylight savings time. I know it gets dark early, but we also get that extra hour of sleep exactly when we need it most: in this case in the middle of the World Series.

When we straggled home after Saturday's wet loss to the Yankees (can you believe the incredible odds of attending two consecutive World Series Game 3's both delayed by rain?), it was after 1:00 AM. But thanks to the wonders of Daylight Savings Time, it was an hour earlier. Never have I been more grateful for that extra hour.

It turns out that researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have determined (by studying mouse brains) that sleep deprivation limits the function of your hippocampus. Thus the brain fog that enshrouds those who don't get enough zzzzzzs.

These same researchers have also postulated that limiting a particular enzyme (phosphodiesterase 4) might someday thwart that fog from descending all together. In their study, the brains of mice who were kept awake (no word on how they did that) were studied. These same mice were then given phosphodiesterase 4 inhibitors and their tired brains returned to normal function.

Of course, while this does beg the question of what a functioning mouse brain actually does, it raises all sorts of possibilities about restoring brain function to people who suffer from diseases such as schizophrenia and sleep apnea that interfere with sleep.

The promised inhibitors, however, do come with side effects so for now we should all be grateful for that extra hour and even try to squeeze in a few more on a regular basis.