Most of us know that when we get tired, we get grumpy. We tend to be more easily irritated and to have our emotions jump around from place to place because we haven't gotten enough sleep. We see it in babies and we sometimes admit it as adults. But now a study done through the use of MRI scanning technology proves that there is a direct link between lack of sleep and heightened emotional discomfort.
The study, which was done by researchers from UC Berkeley and Harvard Medical schools, used MRI scans to measure activity in the amygdala which is the region of the brain that registers emotional reactions. Using negative visual stimuli, the researchers created reactions in the brain amongst the participants in the study. The research showed that those people who had gotten less than eight hours of sleep were more prone to have negative emotional reactions to the stimuli than were those people who had gotten enough sleep.
Those people who have trouble with insomnia may want to consider what other effects the lack of sleep is having on the brain. Working with doctors, you should be able to find a solution that will let you sleep and therefore put your emotions back on the right track.
