A new hypothesis was presented this year in Frontiers in Network Physiology, which contends that the human mind is not intended to be awake past midnight. The authors of the study claim that after midnight, a conscious mind is more receptive to unpleasant than good feelings. They stress that staying up later than usual can make the mind more susceptible to suicidal ideas.
The human circadian rhythm, which is the body’s inherent internal process that synchronises the sleep-wake cycle every 24 hours, may have a considerable impact on these variances, the research suggests.
Previous studies have looked at the harmful impacts of interrupted or insufficient sleep, such as increased stress, heart problems, and dopamine alterations that could potentially lead to addiction.
Furthermore, greater cognition and general health the following day are related to the previous night’s unbroken sleep. As a result, the researchers decided to find out if nocturnal wakefulness, or choosing to stay awake during the biological or circadian night, results in maladaptive behaviours, such as violent crime, drug use, or even suicidal thoughts. According to their research, the researchers looked at ‘how mood, reward processing, and executive function alter during overnight wakefulness.’
The researchers looked at empirical evidence from earlier studies on sleep and its impacts on cognition and functioning. They claim that the human body and mind behave in a certain way at specific times of the day and follow a circadian clock. As a result, although molecular and brain functions are active during the day, the body seeks rest at night.
Additionally, overnight wakefulness may have an evolutionary impact on maladaptive behaviour. The brain developed higher sensitivity to unpleasant stimuli during this period because nighttime hunting was a serious threat to early people who lived in the wild.
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