A study conducted by researchers in the United States found that missing just one hour of rest can kill people’s desire to help others.
The team noted that a bad night reduces activity in the part of the brain that promotes social behavior. Professor Matthew Walker, co-author of the study at the University of California, said: the catalyst for prosocial behavior is reducing people’s natural desire to help each other. others. Somehow, the less you sleep, the more social you become and the more selfish you become.”
Writing in the journal PLoS Biology, the team wrote that chronic sleep deprivation can damage social bonds and weaken the altruistic instincts that build society. In recent years, the implications of these discoveries have been very relevant to the societies we want to live in. the shape lives.”
The team assessed 160 participants’ willingness to help others through a self-reported altruism questionnaire, which they filled out after a night’s sleep. theirs.”
In an experiment involving 24 participants, researchers compared the same person’s responses after a restful night and after 24 hours of sleep deprivation. The results revealed a 78% reduction in the desire to help others when tired.
Next, the team scanned the brains of these participants and found that a short night was associated with decreased activity in the social cognitive network, an area of the brain involved in social behavior.
Noting that participants were as reluctant to help friends and family as they were strangers, the researchers said, “Insomnia inhibited the motivation to help others, whether for help with strangers or close relatives. -child. This means that lack of sleep leads to antipathy. behavior.”
To determine whether altruism is successful in the real world, the team tracked more than 3 million charitable donations in the United States before and after the time switch to hourly daylight saving time, citing shorter sleep hours.
“Our study adds to the growing body of evidence suggesting that insufficient sleep not only harms an individual’s mental and physical health, but also harms interpersonal and even altruistic connections. which is the sentiment of an entire nation.” Said.
Walker continued: “The positive observation that emerges from all our work is that when sleep is sufficient, the desire to help others is rekindled, but it is important to remember that it is not just the duration of sleep that matters most for helping. related factor, but the quantity of sleep as well as the quality of sleep.
Professor Russell Foster, director of the Sleep and Everyday Neuroscience Institute at the University of Oxford, who was not involved in the research, said: “This is the first study that definitively shows that a lack of sleep can reduce the motivation of individuals. to help us. stay away from each other.”
Foster added: “These findings have huge implications for all levels of society, but especially for our frontlines, doctors, nurses and police who work the night shift, and the findings show that their ability to help under difficult and challenging circumstances will help them in the challenge. and challenging situations. . concessions have to be made.”
source: theguardian
Source: Arabic RT
