Effect of Sleep Deprivation on the Hippocampus of Adult and Senile Male Albino Rat: A Histological and Histochemical Study

Abstract

The hippocampus is a major component of the mammalian brains and the brains of other vertebrates. It belongs to the limbic system and plays important roles in memory consolidation. Sleep is a naturally occurring state of altered consciousness, multiple hypotheses were proposed to explain the functions of sleep and explored its big role in waste clearance of the brain. Sleep deprivation (SD) is the condition of lack of enough sleep. It was shown that SD harmfully affect the brain and cognitive function. The present study aims to find histological and histochemical evidences of pathological changes pertinent to Alzheimer disease in the hippocampi of sleep-deprived rats.