Scientists of the University of California, Berkeley, were able to determine that lack of sleep is inhibiting logical thinking. In a study with 26 persons they were able to detect interesting facts connected with emotional processes.
The group of 26 test-persons was divided into two. The first group was allowed to sleep through one night, the other group had to stay awake for 35 hours. After that, the participants were shown 100 pictures. The content of these pictures was connected with different emotions from neutral to extremely distressing like for example children with cancerous tumors or mutilated bodies. With help of the functional magnetic resonance imaging the working group around Matthew Walker determined the active brain regions of the participants while doing so.
In the evaluation differences in the reaction of the two groups were visible in two key positions. After sleep deprivation, the negative pictures created a 60 percent higher activity in the amygdala (part of the emotional center of the brain) of the tired persons compared to the group that slept sufficiently. Furthermore, linking of the amygdala with the prefrontal cortex (brain region responsible for logical thinking and assessment of feelings) was blocked. Instead, the emotional center was linked with the locus caeruleus (responsible for the control of the flight reflexes).
Conclusion: Due to sleep deprivation, the prefrontal cortex and consequently the logical thinking that takes over the rational control of feelings gets blocked. According to the scientists this is leading to irrational behavior. Especially concerned are permanently stressed “nocturnal” people like doctors, pilots, mothers of infants, soldiers. Furthermore, according to the researchers it might be possible that when suffering under mental diseases sleep disturbances are not only a side effect but the actual cause.
The results indicate that sleep is not only necessary for physical but also for emotional regeneration.
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