The study published in Nature found oxidative stress - a process that lies behind the ageing of cells and degenerative disease - also leads to sleep. The existence of a 'sleep switch' in the brain was first suggested two decades ago. "Our new research shows that oxidative stress also activates the neurons that control whether we go to sleep." It has a special set of sleep-control neurons, brain cells also found in other animals and believed to exist in people. "The state of NADPH, in turn, reflects the degree of oxidative stress the cell has experienced.

Source: Daily Mirror March 22, 2019 18:11 UTC