Study: A Sleep-Deprived Brain is Potentially Dangerous

If you want your brain to function properly - get a good night's sleep.

According to a new study from an international coalition of researchers, all it takes is one night of tossing and turning to make the brain unstable.

Researchers said the sudden shutdowns in the brain that result from sleepdeprivation could lead to potentially dangerous mistakes or accidents.

"The main finding is that the brain of the sleep-deprived individual is working normally sometimes, but intermittently suffers from something akin to power failure," Harvard University's Dr. Clifford Saper, an expert unaffiliated with the study, told the Journal of Neuroscience.