A sleepless night can be beneficial
Last reviewed: 07.06.2024
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Lack of sleep can increase the presence of dopamine and prepare nerve cells for new neural connections. Dopamine is a well-known neurotransmitter, a bioactive chemical that transports emotional response and helps you feel pleasure and not feel pain.
It is no secret that regular nighttime sleep deprivation leads to a significant deterioration of mood and memory, irritability, poor concentration, fatigue and so on. However, such symptoms are observed only if there is a permanent sleep deficit. Strangely enough, one sleepless night demonstrates the opposite effect: a person can experience a boost of strength, a kind of euphoria, a desire to do something new for themselves. Of course, this does not happen in all people, but the majority of people do have it. This was reported by neuroscientists from Northwestern University.
Specialists conducted an experiment in which mice were not allowed to sleep for 24 hours without putting them in a stressful state. At the end of the day, the awake rodents, despite everything, became particularly active (also sexually). At the same time, the scientists studied their brain activity, namely - areas of dopamine concentration and areas responsible for the feeling of pleasure. As a result, it was found that the mice felt satisfaction from a sleepless night, and the dopamine motivational centers were active.
Dopamine bursts were detected in the area hypothalamus, adjacent nucleus and prefrontal cortex. It is noteworthy that high activity (including sexual activity) subsided in sleep-deprived rodents after a few hours, and the antidepressant effect persisted for several days. Presumably, nerve cells have built between themselves new connections that support this effect. Proof of this was the detection of "rudiments" of new synapses formation, which meant qualitative synaptic adaptation - the nervous system showed readiness to create new chains of neurons. This effect may have had a significant evolutionary significance in its time.
By the way, if insomnia dragged on for more than a day, the activity was replaced by a negative reaction of the body: rodents became lethargic, aggressive, irritable.
Earlier works on this topic have already been carried out. Scientists managed to prove that one night without sleep has some antidepressant effect: mood improves in most cases. However, as the researchers note, the effect depends on what exactly prompted a person to stay awake: whether it was a complex monotonous work at a laptop, or heavy worries and reflections, or counting stars on the coast in a pleasant company.
Details of the study can be found at of the journal Neuron