PsychiatryAdvisor: Study data published in PLoS One describe the potential effects of sleep deprivation on emotion regulation.
In a cohort of healthy adults exposed to sleep deprivation, processing and memory remained uninhibited, but the regulation of negative emotion experienced decrements.
This study was conducted in a controlled laboratory setting at the Sleep and Performance Research Center at Washington State University. Healthy adults spent 4 days in the laboratory, during which they underwent a battery of tests assessing memory, cognition, and emotion regulation.
After 1 night of monitored sleep and laboratory acclimation, patients were randomized in a 2:1 ratio to either a total sleep deprivation condition or a rested control condition. During night 2, patients in the sleep deprivation condition were kept awake, while patients in the control condition were given a 10 hour sleep window. At the end of day 3, all patients were given a 10 hour sleep opportunity. Subjects left the laboratory on the afternoon of day 4.
