Sleep Deprivation and Circadian Disruption: Stress, Allostasis, and Allostatic Load

Abstract

Sleep has important homeostatic functions, and circadian rhythms organize physiology and behavior on a daily basis to insure optimal function. Sleep deprivation and circadian disruption can be stressors, enhancers of other stressors that have consequences for the brain and many body systems. Whether the origins of circadian disruption and sleep disruption and deprivation are from anxiety, depression, shift work, long-distance air travel, or a hectic lifestyle, there are consequences that impair brain functions and contribute to the cumulative wear and tear on body systems caused by too much stress and/or inefficient management of the systems that promote adaptation.

Keywords: Allostasis; Allostatic load; Circadian disruption; Glycogen; Hippocampus; Oxidative stress; Pro-inflammatory cytokines; Sleep deprivation.

Fig. 1.

Nonlinear network of mediators of allostasis involved in the stress response. Arrows indicate that each system regulates the others in a reciprocal manner, creating a nonlinear network. Moreover, there are multiple pathways for regulation (eg, inflammatory cytokine production is negatively regulated via anti-inflammatory cytokines as well as via parasympathetic and glucocorticoid pathways), whereas sympathetic activity increases inflammatory cytokine production. Parasympathetic activity, in turn, contains sympathetic activity. CNS, central nervous system; DHEA, dehydroepiandrosterone. (Adapted from Karatsoreos IN, McEwen BS. Psychobiological allostasis: resistance, resilience and vulnerability. Trends Cogn Sci 2011;15:576–84; with permission.)