Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on March 29, 2011
Emerging research suggests pulling an all-nighter may provide a euphoric feeling to young adults.
Scientists from UC Berkeley and Harvard Medical School studied the brains of healthy young adults and found that their pleasure circuitry got a big boost after a missed night’s sleep.
But that same neural pathway that stimulates feelings of exhilaration, reward and motivation after a sleepless night may also lead to risky behavior, their study suggests.
“When functioning correctly, the brain finds the sweet spot on the mood spectrum. But the sleep-deprived brain will swing to both extremes, neither of which is optimal for making wise decisions,†said Matthew Walker, associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at UC Berkeley and lead author of the study.
The findings, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, underscore the need for people in high-stakes professions and circumstances not to shortchange themselves on sleep, Walker said.
“We need to ensure that people making high-stakes decisions, from medical professionals to airline pilots to new parents, get enough sleep,†Walker said.
“Based on this evidence, I’d be concerned by an emergency room doctor who’s been up for 20 hours straight making rational decisions about my health.”
The body alternates between two main phases of sleep during the night: Rapid Eye Movement (REM), when body and brain activity promote dreams, and Non-Rapid Eye Movement (NREM), when the muscles and brain rest. Previous brain studies indicate that these sleep patterns are disrupted in people with mood disorders.
Puzzled as to why so many people with clinical depression feel more positive after a sleepless night — at least temporarily — the researchers used functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging to study the brains of 27 young adults, half of whom got a good night’s rest and the other half of whom pulled an all-nighter.
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http://psychcentral.com/news/2011/03/29/beware-the-rush-from-all-nighters/24736.html