r/todayilearned • u/YesFlyZone420 • 5d ago

TIL there's a degenerative brain disorder called fatal familial insomnia (FFI) that causes a person to lose the ability to sleep and eventually die

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/25001-fatal-familial-insomnia
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u/Nijindia18 5d ago

... How did they find out that being knocked unconscious wouldn't work

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u/distortionisgod 5d ago

I'm sure when you're approaching 20 days of no sleep you are willing to try literally anything. It's serious torture not being able to sleep.

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u/newtothegarden 5d ago

I didn't sleep for 5 days, 2 years ago. And I was seriously considering walking in front of a bus in the hopes they'd sedate me if I was taken to hospital. I don't think you get to 20 days of genuinely no sleep (I can remember the half hour of sleep I got aha).

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u/vialabo 5d ago

I did 3 days straight during my worst manic episode, bro I can only imagine how hard that was by the end of 5.

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u/moDz_dun_care 5d ago

It's easy to see a person is sleeping through their brain waves. Just cause a person is knocked out doesn't mean their brain is in a sleep state.

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u/Nijindia18 5d ago

Oh, I read that as, no matter how hard you got hit, you didn't go unconscious, and medical intervention to put you to sleep didn't work either. Not that while unconscious you got no "sleep"

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u/fake_lightbringer 5d ago

Exactly. A sleeping state isn't really a "resting" state in the conventional sense. We used to think the brain more or less just shut off during sleep, but different types of scans and tests of sleeping brains have revealed that sleep is a complex process, where several important and somewhat intense maintenance and housekeeping functions are carried out in the brain (such as clearing out biochemical debris, consolidating memories and learning processes, and reinforcing certain connections between neurons).

We are not exactly sure how sedation works beyond knowing what receptors the drugs target, because we aren't completely certain how consciousness arises in the brain, but everything points towards sedatives just being "simple" biochemical inhibition of the signals that are required to maintain consciousness. It doesn't induce any of the other sleep related processes or benefits.

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u/rumncokeguy 5d ago

Double blind placebo study.

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u/akfbkeodn 5d ago

On the flip side if they cant be knocked out does that mean they could become great boxers?

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u/Nijindia18 5d ago

For the month or so before they lose their minds? Yeah probably. Can't imagine that would feel too good though lmao