Not getting enough sleep can make you more selfish and asocial: study

A study conducted by scientists in the US found that losing even one hour of sleep could make people less likely to help others.

The scientists found that a bad night appeared to lessen activity in the part of the brain that encourages social behaviour. The analysis is based on three separate studies by researchers from the University of California, Berkeley. The findings have been published in the journal PLOS Biology.

"Even just an hour of sleep loss was more than enough to influence the choice to help another," said Eti Ben Simon, one of the study leads. "When people lose one hour of sleep, there's a clear hit on our innate human kindness and our motivation to help other people in need," he added.

For the first study, the researchers looked at the database of 3 million charitable donations made between 2001 and 2016. They discovered a 10% drop in donations following Daylight Saving Time.

For the second, the researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to analyse the brain activity in 24 people after 8 hours of sleep and after a night of no sleep. They found that the area of the brain that considers people's needs, states, and emotions was less active after a night of sleep deprivation.

"A lack of sleep impaired the drive to help others regardless of whether they were asked to help strangers or close relatives. That is, sleep loss triggers asocial, anti-helping behaviour of a broad and indiscriminate impact," said Prof Matthew Walker, a co-author of the study.

In the third study, the researchers analysed the sleeping patterns of more than 100 people for three to four nights and found that quality of sleep was more important than quantity of sleep when it came to people wanting to help others.

The participants were given an "altruism questionnaire" wherein they were asked to respond to different situations on a scale from "I would stop to help" to "I would ignore them." The scientists found that even one night of poor sleep dampened their intention to help people the next day.

Several studies in the past have also shown that poor quality of sleep can lead to several physical ailments such as diabetes and obesity.