We spend so much of our lives focused on sleep, whether we’re trying to fall asleep, actually sleeping, or struggling to wake up. And that’s probably why we spend so much time studying it, whether it’s finding out what messes with it or what a lack of it does to us.
Now, new research appears to have discovered how poor sleep influences our mental health. The paper, which appears in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggests that it could be tied to deficits in brain regions that keep unwanted thoughts out of heads.
While we’ve known for decades that sleep and mental health are inextricably linked, researchers have struggled to figure out how.
The international group of researchers, led by the University of East Anglia (UEA), might have uncovered the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying the connection between sleep and mental health. The discovery could inform the development of novel treatments and prevention strategies for the mental health problems that crop up, including anxiety and depression.
“Memories of unpleasant experiences can intrude into awareness, often triggered by reminders,” Harrington explained. “For individuals with mental health disorders such as depression or post-traumatic stress disorder, these intrusive memories can be recurrent and distressing. Understanding the mechanisms behind these memory control failures is essential for improving emotional wellbeing.”
Methodology
Marcus Harrington, PhD, from UEA’s School of Psychology and the paper’s lead author, leveraged functional neuroimaging technology to study the brain activity in 85 healthy adults while they tried to quash unwanted memories. Half of the participants enjoyed a full night’s sleep in a controlled lab setting, while the researchers had the others stay awake through the night. What the researchers found exposed notable differences in the brain function between the two.
The well-rested study participants displayed greater activation in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex — a region vital for controlling thoughts, actions, and emotions — during memory suppression tasks. They also showed less activity in the hippocampus, a region tied to memory retrieval, which could suggest more effective inhibition of unwanted memories.
On the other hand, the sleep-deprived participants fought to employ those brain regions, hinting that a lack of sleep might hamper memory control.
Among those who slept, participants who spent more time in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep showed stronger activation of the prefrontal cortex, which underscores the restorative role of REM sleep in maintaining both our emotional and cognitive balance.
Implications
The findings underscore the importance of a good night’s rest in preventing unwanted memories from disrupting thoughts and emotions, reinforcing sleep’s vital role in maintaining our mental health.
“Taken together, our findings highlight the critical role of sleep in maintaining control over both our memories and ongoing thoughts,” Harrington said.
Further Reading
New Research Highlights Sleep Deprivation Risks
Why Sleep Consistency May Be More Important Than Duration
Emerging Research Reinforces Links Between Sleep and Suicide
