I am sure you will have experienced the situation where you are asked a question and you can’t answer because you have zoned out – so much, that you are not even sure what the question was!

Scientists can now explain what is happening to your brain at these times. In the study, the volunteers became deprived of a whole night of sleep and then popped on an EEG cap and lay back in a fMRI scanner for the results to be collected. This diagnostic tool allows changes in the brain to be detected. The volunteers were given tasks to do that they had to respond quickly to. Their results were compared to a control sample of when they were not sleep deprived.

It will be no surprise that when sleep deprived that their response times were much slower or sometimes not at all! What was fascinating was that the scans picked up changes in the brain that happened when there were lapses in concentration. When they zoned out it coincided with cerebrospinal fluid being pushed out of the brain but then the fluid returns a second or so later when concentration returned.

Scientists have long known that during deep sleep the brain carries out house-keeping tasks to keep its cells and tissues healthy. Part of this is the removal of harmful metabolic waste that accumulates during the day. But when a person is sleep deprived, the brain needs to protect itself from damage, so takes a little break from time to time to remove this metabolic waste build up.

This does come with some risks – if you are an animal that needs to pay constant attention so as not to be eaten by a predator, then this could end badly. Luckily, the worst that can happen to you if you are in a lesson at school, is that you miss that bit of teaching and learning and perhaps it leaves your teacher feeling deflated that you are not listening.

But here’s the thing – If you spend too many nights being sleep deprived, you are going to hinder your learning. That’s a fact. Sleep deprivation greatly disrupts cognitive function.

As teachers, what we want most in the world is for you to reach your full potential and to perform your best in your exams. So, our encouragement to you is to look after your brain – give it the sleep it needs – no more watching YouTube videos at 2am and to get the most out of all your lessons – this will definitely be the best road to success!

Download the article from the Guardian page here

Download the paper from the Nature page here