Why Bad Sleep Doesn’t Always Lead to Depression - NEUROSCIENCE

Poor sleep is both a risk factor, and a common symptom, of depression. But not everyone who tosses and turns at night becomes depressed.

Individuals whose brains are more attuned to rewards may be protected from the negative mental health effects of poor sleep, says a new study by Duke University neuroscientists.

The researchers found that college students with poor quality sleep were less likely to have symptoms of depression if they also had higher activity in a reward-sensitive region of the brain.

“This helps us begin to understand why some people are more likely to experience depression when they have problems with sleep,” said Ahmad Hariri, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University. “This finding may one day help us identify individuals for whom sleep hygiene may be more effective or more important.”
The paper appeared online Sept. 18 in the Journal of Neuroscience.

Source & further reading:https://today.duke.edu/2017/09/why-bad-sleep-doesn%E2%80%99t-always-lead-depression

Journal article:http://www.jneurosci.org/content/early/2017/09/18/JNEUROSCI.1734-17.2017

Image:
Higher activity in the ventral striatum, the brain’s reward center, may buffer some individuals against the negative mental health effects of poor sleep.
Credit: Annchen R. Knodt
Source: Corina Marinescu