Matthew Walter, the lead researcher in the study, who is from the University of California at Berkeley, states, “This adds to the critical list of sleep’s benefits. Sleep appears to restore our emotional brain circuits, and in doing so prepares us for the next day’s challenges and social interactions. Most importantly, this study demonstrates the dangers of not sleeping enough. Sleep deprivation fractures the brain mechanisms that regulate key aspects of our mental health. The bottom line is that sleep is not a luxury that we can optionally choose to take whenever we like. It is a biological necessity, and without it, there is only so far the band will stretch before it snaps, with both cognitive and emotional consequences.” [http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-10/cp-sca101707.php]

The study “The human emotional brain without sleep—a prefrontal amygdale disconnect” is published in the October 23, 2007 issue of Current Biology (vol. 17, no. 20, R877-R878).

The other researchers in the study include Seung-Schik Yoo, Ferenc A. Jolesz, Ninad Gujar, Peter Hu, and Matthew P. Walker.

The researchers found that even one night of missed sleep can cause unusual brain activity with respect to mental problems.


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