Humans help each other; It is one of the pillars of civilized society. However, a new study by scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, suggests that sleep deprivation undermines this fundamental human quality with real-world consequences. Sleep deprivation has been linked to an increased risk of heart disease, depression, diabetes, high blood pressure and overall mortality.
However, these new findings suggest that sleep deprivation also impairs our basic social conscience, causing us to withdraw our will and desire to help others. In one section of the new study, researchers found that charitable donations dropped by 10% in the week following the introduction of ‘daylight saving time’, when residents in most states “spring ahead” and lose an hour of their day, Not a drop is seen in states that do not change their clocks or when states return to standard time in the fall.
The study, led by UC Berkeley research scientist AT Ben Simon and UC Berkeley psychology professor Matthew Walker, suggests that insufficient sleep damages not only a person’s mental and physical well-being, but also interpersonal bonds. puts at risk. And even the philanthropic spirit of an entire nation. “We’ve discovered a very intimate connection between our sleep health and our mental health over the past 20 years.” “We haven’t found a single major mental state in which sleep is normal,” Walker said. “However, this new research shows that sleep deprivation not only harms an individual’s health, but also impairs social interactions between individuals and ultimately the fabric of human society.” How we function as a social species and how we function socially depends heavily on the amount of sleep we get.”
“We’re seeing more and more studies, including this study, where the effects of sleep deprivation don’t just stop at the individual, but extend to the people around us,” said Ben Simon. “Not getting enough sleep not only harms your own well-being, but it also harms the well-being of your entire social circle, including strangers.” Ben Simon, Walker, and their colleagues Raphael Vallet and Aubrey Rossi published their findings August 23 in the open access journal PLOS Biology. Walker is director of the Center for Human Sleep Science. He and Ben Simon are both members of UC Berkeley’s Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute.
Sleep deprivation undermines the theory of brain networks. The new report describes three separate studies that looked at how sleep deprivation affects people’s willingness to help others.
In the first study, researchers scanned the brains of 24 healthy volunteers using a functional magnetic resonance imager (fMRI) after eight hours of sleep and one night of sleep. They found that after a sleepless night, the areas of the brain that make up the theory of mind networks, which are engaged when people empathize with others or try to understand other people’s wants and needs, become less active. Were. When we think of other people, this network engages and allows us to understand what their needs are. What are they thinking about? Are they in trouble? Do they need help?
According to Ben Simon, “However, when individuals were sleep deprived, this network was significantly impaired.” It is as if these areas of the brain do not respond when we try to interact with others after not getting enough sleep. “They tracked more than 100 people online over three or four nights in a second study. In the meantime, researchers assessed their willingness to help others by measuring the quality of their sleep — how long they slept? How long did they sleep? Bar awake? and then volunteering, while keeping the elevator door open for someone else, or helping an injured stranger on the street.” We discovered that a decrease in sleep quality from one night to the next led to predicted a significant decrease in desire to help others from day to day,” explained Ben Simon.
“People who had a bad night reported being less willing and eager to help others the next day.” The third component of the study involved mining a database of 3 million charitable donations made in the United States between 2001 and 2016. Did the number of donations increase or decrease after the implementation of Daylight Saving Time and the possible loss of one hour of sleep? He discovered a 10% reduction in donations. This drop in charitable donations was not seen in areas of the country that did not change their clocks.” Even a very modest ‘dose’ of sleep deprivation – in this case, the opportunity for an hour of sleep due to daylight savings The loss of time – has a very measurable and very real impact on people’s generosity and, thus, how we function as a connected society,” Walker said.
“Losing an hour of sleep has a clear effect on our innate human kindness and motivation to help others in need.” An earlier study by Walker and Ben Simon found that sleep deprivation caused people to become socially withdrawn and socially isolated. The lack of sleep increased his feelings of loneliness. Worse, when those sleep-deprived people interacted with others, they spread their loneliness, almost like a virus, according to Walker. “Looking at the bigger picture,” he said, “we begin to see Sleeping results in quite the antisocial and, from a helping perspective, the antisocial individual, which has many consequences for how we live together as a social species.”
“Lack of sleep makes people less empathetic, less generous, and more socially withdrawn, and this is contagious – loneliness spreads”. “The realization that sleep quantity and quality affects society as a whole, as deficits in prosocial behavior may provide insight into our current social situation,” Walker said. This finding also suggests a novel approach to improving these particular aspects of our society.” Ben Simon added, “Instead of shaming people for not getting enough sleep, promoting sleep can help us all every day. May help shape the social bonds experienced during the day.” Outside that sleep is a wonderful lubricant for professional, connected, empathetic, kind and generous human behavior. If needed to enable the best version of ourselves within society. required a strong, social lubricant, so now it appears, Walker is the author of the international bestseller ‘Why We Sleep’.”
“Sleep may be a wonderful component that enables the speed with which humans help each other.” “Sleep is essential to all aspects of our physical, mental and emotional lives,” said Ben Simon. “When sleep is underestimated in society, we not only find doctors, nurses and students deprived of sleep, but we also suffer from unkind and less empathetic interactions on a daily basis.” More than half of people in developed countries report having insufficient sleep during the work week. “As a society, it’s time to discard the notion that sleep is unnecessary or useless and start getting the sleep we need without feeling embarrassed,” he said.
“It is the best kind of kindness we can give to ourselves and those around us.”