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A new study shows that sleep deprivation and poor quality sleep in general also affect your desire to help others. In a negative way.
Lack of sleep is definitely a social problem. While we already knew the harmful effects and health risks caused by the accumulation of bad nights on health (risk of obesity, cardiovascular diseases, accidents and depression), a new study carried out by the University of Oxford, United Kingdom, published in the journal PLOS Biologyrreveals that our social relationships would also be impacted. In particular our empathy, and our desire to help others. This is the first time that a study has crossed data on the quality and quantity of sleep and our pro-social behaviors.
Poor sleep reduces your motivation to help others
To reach their conclusions, the team of scientists endeavored to combine several complementary experiments. First of all a questionnaire to which adult subjects without any particular pathology answered after a full night’s sleep and after a 24-hour sleep deprivation. Questions relating to everyday life situations demonstrated a change in motivation when it came to helping a neighbor, or giving direction to a complete stranger.
After the questionnaire part of the study, to verify their findings, the researchers used functional MRI imaging (fMRI) to examine the impact of sleep loss on brain regions involved in prosocial behaviors. And the picture also spoke: the researchers found that sleep deprivation was associated with reduced activity in brain regions involved in social cognition when performing a social task.
A final experiment conducted on a panel of 171 participants over several consecutive nights also made it possible to understand that variations in empathy were not only linked to a lack of sleep but to the quality of it. The number of hours is therefore not the only issue.
This latest study conducted on the effects of sleep, or lack of sleep, on our daily lives, reminds us that it is all the more important to spare it if we want to keep in good shape and good relations with those around us. . The opportunity to repeat the good habits to adopt to sleep well:
- Prioritize regularity in meal times, bedtime and getting up.
- Respect your sleep, and don’t force yourself to stay up late.
- Practice regular physical activity during the day.
- Avoid stimulants in the afternoon.
- Have a light dinner in the evening so as not to strain your digestion.
- Avoid screens and blue lights in the evening before bedtime.