Pulling an all-nighter works as an antidepressant: study

Health

By Brooke Kato

College students, rejoice — your all-nighters may have more benefits than earning you an A.

That all-too-familiar “wired but tired” feeling due to lack of sleep for just one night might actually have antidepressant results, according to a study conducted by a team from Northwestern University.

While chronic sleep deprivation has been studied at length, scientists were interested in investigating the effects of temporary sleep loss, “like the equivalent of a student pulling an all-nighter before an exam,” said study author and associate professor of neurobiology Yevgenia Kozorovitskiy.

“We found that sleep loss induces a potent antidepressant effect and rewires the brain,” Kozorovitskiy said in a statement.

“This is an important reminder of how our casual activities, such as a sleepless night, can fundamentally alter the brain in as little as a few hours.”

The study, published Thursday in the journal Neuron, analyzed the effects of short-term sleep deprivation on mice to pinpoint the areas of the brain that controlled behavioral changes induced by sleep, or the lack thereof.

The mice — with no predispositions to mood disorders and placed in an environment just stressful enough to keep them awake — exhibited hyperactive, hypersexual and aggressive behaviors compared to those that slept.

When studying the activity of the dopamine neurons — which control the reward response in the brain — the mice that experienced sleep loss also had higher activity.

To narrow down which of the four regions responsible for dopamine was impacted by sleep loss, the researchers “silenced” the medial prefrontal cortex.

In turn, there was no antidepressant effect.

“That means the prefrontal cortex is a clinically relevant area when searching for therapeutic targets,” said Kozorovitskiy.

“But it also reinforces the idea that has been building in the field recently: Dopamine neurons play very important but very different roles in the brain,” Kozorovitskiy added. “They are not just this monolithic population that simply predicts rewards.”

Even one night’s worth of sleep deprivation saw lingering antidepressant effects that lasted for days, plus increased neuroplasticity.

However, the short-lived benefits — likely a result of evolution, according to Kozorovitskiy — are not a cure-all.

After all, a chronic lack of adequate sleep has been linked to health issues such as cognitive decline or poor mental health long-term.

“The antidepressant effect is transient, and we know the importance of a good night’s sleep,” said Kozorovitskiy, who believes her team’s research will allow better patient and antidepressant matches.

“I would say you are better off hitting the gym or going for a nice walk.”