Editing Sleep debt (section)

== Neuropsychological effects of sleep debt on emotions ==

Accumulated and continuous short-term sleep deficit has been shown to increase and intensify psychophysiological reactions in humans to emotional stimuli.<ref name="Motomura_2013">{{cite journal | vauthors = Motomura Y, Kitamura S, Oba K, Terasawa Y, Enomoto M, Katayose Y, Hida A, Moriguchi Y, Higuchi S, Mishima K | title = Sleep debt elicits negative emotional reaction through diminished amygdala-anterior cingulate functional connectivity | journal = PLOS ONE | volume = 8 | issue = 2 | pages = e56578 | date = 2013 | pmid = 23418586 | pmc = 3572063 | doi = 10.1371/journal.pone.0056578 | bibcode = 2013PLoSO...856578M | doi-access = free }}</ref> The [[amygdala]] plays a strong functional role in the expression of negative emotions such as fear, and, through its anatomical connections with the [[medial prefrontal cortex]] (mPFC), has an important function in the subjective suppression of and the reframing and reappraisal of negative emotions.<ref name="Motomura_2013" /> A study assessing sleep deficit in young Japanese men over a 5-day period (during which they slept only 4 hours per day) showed that there was greater left amygdala activation to fearful faces but not happy faces, and an overall subjective mood deterioration.<ref name="Motomura_2013" /> As a result, even short-term continuous sleep debt, or deprivation, has been shown to reduce this functional relationship between the amygdala and mPFC, inducing negative mood changes through increased fear and anxiety to unpleasant emotional stimuli and events.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Minkel JD, Banks S, Htaik O, Moreta MC, Jones CW, McGlinchey EL, Simpson NS, Dinges DF | title = Sleep deprivation and stressors: evidence for elevated negative affect in response to mild stressors when sleep deprived | journal = Emotion | volume = 12 | issue = 5 | pages = 1015–20 | date = October 2012 | pmid = 22309720 | pmc = 3964364 | doi = 10.1037/a0026871 }}</ref> Thus, a full and uninterrupted 7-hour sleep is crucial for the proper functioning of the amygdala in modulating an individual's mood states—by reducing negative emotional intensities and increasing reactivity to positive emotional stimuli.<ref name="Motomura_2013" />