If you are someone who stays awake late at night, a new revelation should get you worried. Usually, when lying awake at night, negative thoughts could drift into your mind to compel you to remain awake.
Neurophysiological brain changes due to lack of sleep affect functions
Staying awake after midnight could lead to someone identifying with the “Mind After Midnight” hypothesis. According to the hypothesis, those who stay awake past their biological circadian nights might experience neurophysiological brain changes that affect functioning. Researchers evaluated the issue in a new study entitled “The Mind After Midnight Nocturnal Wakefulness, Behaviours Dysregulation and Psychopathology.”
According to past studies, the functioning of the human brain is different when someone is awake at nighttime. Sleeping past midnight has adverse effects, including reduced inhibition, negative thoughts, and emotions. These effects were the researchers’ focus.
The researchers demonstrated the impact of the circadian rhythm in the neurophysiological changes involved. According to the “Mind After Midnight” hypothesis, the human brain and body follow an activity cycle that influences emotion and behavior.
Humans have specific feelings during certain hours of the day, like brain activity being set to wakefulness but changes during nighttime. Surprisingly, attention to negative stimuli increases at night, which can feed into a changed motivation or reward system, rendering the individual susceptible to risky behaviors. The combination of this and sleep loss can become problematic.
Staying awake past midnight increases the chances of risk behavior
According to Harvard University Neurologist Elizabeth Klerman, when someone is awake at night, the brain will not function optimally as it could during the day. The study authors compared the hypothesis to heroin use and someone grappling with insomnia.
Co-study author Michael Perils, an associate psychology professor at the University of Pennsylvania, said that staying awake beyond midnight could make someone susceptible to harmful behaviors such as substance abuse, violent crime, and suicide. Perils cited a past study that indicated that suicide is most likely to happen at night.
It is vital to note that at night the body will produce dopamine which changes motivation and reward, increasing the probability of risky behavior.
