Why sleep is the best painkiller

New research, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, finds that sleep deprivation increases sensitivity to pain by numbing the brain’s painkilling response.

One in three adults in the United States, or 35 per cent of the adult population, do not get enough sleep.

The effects of sleep deprivation on the brain are numerous, from inducing an inebriation-like state of cognitive impairment to hindering our ability to learn and form new memories.

New research highlights another neurological effect of insufficient sleep: heightened sensitivity to pain.

A lack of sleep impairs the brain’s natural mechanisms for relieving pain, finds the new study, which draws attention to potential links between the public health crises of sleep deprivation, chronic pain, and prescription opioid addiction.

Matthew Walker, a professor of neuroscience and psychology at the University of California in Berkeley, carried out the study, together with doctoral candidate Adam Krause.