The human emotional brain without sleep - a prefrontal amygdala disconnect
This imaging study is cited for the mechanism its title names: after sleep deprivation, the amygdala responds more strongly to unpleasant images, and its usual connection with the prefrontal regions that moderate that response is weakened. The reading is that losing sleep does not simply make people tired but changes the balance between the part of the brain that generates an emotional reaction and the part that regulates it, which is a physical account of why a night without sleep makes small provocations feel larger. It is a small imaging study of the period, so the effect sizes and the inference should be held loosely, and the broader literature on sleep loss and emotional regulation is what carries the claim. Written without an abstract, from the title and public accounts of the effects of sleep loss.
This imaging study is cited for the mechanism its title names: after sleep deprivation, the amygdala responds more strongly to unpleasant images, and its usual connection with the prefrontal regions that moderate that response is weakened. The reading is that losing sleep does not simply make people tired but changes the balance between the part of the brain that generates an emotional reaction and the part that regulates it, which is a physical account of why a night without sleep makes small provocations feel larger. It is a small imaging study of the period, so the effect sizes and the inference should be held loosely, and the broader literature on sleep loss and emotional regulation is what carries the claim. Written without an abstract, from the title and public accounts of the effects of sleep loss.
Written from the the paper's title and public accounts of the effects of sleep loss.
What our sources record
Reproduced as it was written when this source was checked, figures and all.
Yoo, S.-S., Gujar, N., Hu, P., Jolesz, F. A. & Walker, M. P. (2007). "The human emotional brain without sleep, a prefrontal amygdala disconnect." Current Biology, 17(20), R877-R878. Amplified amygdala response to negative stimuli and reduced amygdala-medial prefrontal connectivity after one night of sleep deprivation. Small fMRI sample; the widely circulated percentage figure attached to this study could not be verified and is not printed.
Where we use it
- Why You Lie Awake at 3am Replaying One Conversation, Why We Care
Reliability of this reference
The link below was matched against the publisher's record on title, first author and year, and all three agree.
The source
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2007.08.007
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2007.08.007