InvestigaciónNoticiasSalud del sueño

Dormir poco y jamás estar cansado: la lotería del gen del sueño corto

Un reparador sueño de 5 horas

Un ritmo circadiano inusual favorece a una parte de la población que es capaz de optimizar pocas horas de sueño a partir de una condición genética particular. La bióloga de la Universidad de California, Ying-Hui Fu, lleva algunas décadas descifrando esta particular causa genética, popularizada como “el gen del sueño corto”, impacta en sus portadores. Personas que apenas duermen seis horas -o menos- sin manifestar necesidad de mayor descanso o presentar fatiga del sueño, que incluso pueden presentar mejor salud que el promedio y personalidades desbordantes.

Las primeras publicaciones del equipo de la bióloga a cargo del Instituto Weill de Neurociencias de la Universidad de California, en 2009, indagaba a tres generaciones de familias con esta alteración del sueño breve, pero reparador. Condición presente en personas que describían cómo, desde pequeñas, necesitaban matar el tiempo desde mucho antes de la salida del sol haciendo deportes, leyendo o cocinando como una extensión de la jornada habitual de cualquier otro. Que no podían dormir más de seis horas por muy tarde que se acostaran, publica la revista científica Neuron.

Ahí registran que la causa de este patrón de sueño es una alteración de ADRB1 y DEC2, genes ubicados en el puente tronco encefálico del cerebro encargado de la regulación del sueño. Ambos genes actúan de manera distinta, pero inciden en el mismo estado de alerta y actividad. DEC2 generando orexina, una hormona neurotransmisora que activa la vigilia, mientras que ADRB1 lo hace a través de la noradrelanina que se dispara en momentos de estrés. En experimentos con ratones donde se excitaban estas zonas, se lograba despertar al sujeto promoviendo un estado de alerta general durante más horas de lo común y sin presentar problemas de salud. Se cree, hasta ahora, que la interacción hormonal favorece la eficiencia del sueño regulando la vigilia en personas habituadas orgánicamente a este metabolismo.

Estadísticamente se ha registrado que dormir menos horas no parece afectar a las personas portadoras de esta mutación, incluso por el contrario, podrían gozan de mejor salud que el promedio y contar con un sistema nervioso más fortalecido.

Como lechuga

A medida que avanzaba la investigación, el equipo descubrió otras características comunes en sus sujetos de estudio: Estas personas, capaces de dormir solo 5 horas, eran ambiciosas, increíblemente positivas , extrovertidas y optimistas. Un conjunto de rasgos conocidos en la psicología como Personalidades tipo A. En este caso de análisis multigeneracional, se trataba de personas despiertas, de gran iniciativa, históricos corredores de maratones de montaña y, uno de ellos, constructor de violines. “Si bien estos rasgos no se aplicaron a todos los que duermen poco, entre el 90% y el 95% de las personas en los estudios tenían estas características comunes, incluida una memoria fenomenal. También los ratones genéticamente alterados del estudio compartían algunos de estos rasgos: eran más activos y productivos que los ratones típicos, y parecían tener mejores recuerdos, aunque dormían menos”, explica la genetista y profesora de neurología.

El sueño es el momento en que el cuerpo consolida los recuerdos y limpia el cerebro de neurotoxinas. Sin el sueño REM y de ondas profundas necesarios que conlleva ocho horas completas de sueño, la mayoría de las personas luchan por retener la memoria. “Presumiblemente, los ratones y los humanos con la mutación del gen del sueño corto, recuerdan bastante bien con poco sueño, mientras que la mayoría la gente tendrá problemas de memoria si se les priva del sueño”, señala.

A partir de toda esta evidencia, la Dra. Fu cree que el concepto erróneo más común sobre la importancia de un sueño reparador (para quienes no gozan de esta rara condición genética) es, precisamente, relegarlo a una función secundaria: “El buen sueño es como la comida, el agua y el aire: no podemos vivir sin él. El sueño influye en todo, desde lo felices que somos hasta la rapidez con la que procesamos la información, y quienes duermen mal tienen un mayor riesgo de padecer prácticamente todas las enfermedades conocidas. Dormir mal es una manera lenta de ir muriendo un poco cada día”.

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