Have you ever gone to bed late—say 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning—and gotten up when you normally do, or earlier? Did you actually feel better? Scientists may now explain why. Research from University of California, Berkeley and Harvard Medical School say missing a night’s sleep can lead to a feeling of pleasant euphoria. But—and that’s a BIG but—the euphoric effect can also potentially lead to poor judgment.
According to Matthew Walker, associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at UC, Berkeley, “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.” Whoa!
When we sleep, our bodies alternate between two main phases of sleep. REM or rapid eye movement and NREM or non-rapid eye movement. REM promotes brain activity and dreaming, in NREM the brain is at rest.
In the study, participants viewed a number of pleasant images, like bunnies and flowers and were asked to rate the images as either neutral or positive. Those who skipped a night of sleep gave more positive ratings for the images across the board as compared to those who were well rested. Brain scans of the all-nighter participants showed heightened activity in the brain pathway that regulates positive feelings, motivation, sex drive, addiction, cravings, and decision-making.
So what’s the down side? According to the scientists and based on previous research, while a bias toward the positive may seem advantageous, people tend to make impulsive decisions when they’re feeling overly optimistic.
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