Task 6 - sleep and wellbeing

Question 1

Neurobiological underpinnings of sleep & emotion

Answer 1

Limbic system (amygdala) 
—> emotion regulation 

Prefrontal cortex
—>top-down control of emotion

Same systems also involved in sleep

Sleep deprivation —> altered activity in ACC and AMY

Question 2

REM sleep

Answer 2

—> activation of emotion related brain systems (amygdala, hippocampus)

• inhibition of aminergic neurotransmitters (serotonin, noradrenaline)

—> strengthen declarative components of emotional memory
(Sleep to remember)
—> attenuate their affective time via inhibition of aminergic neurotransmitters
(Sleep to forget)

Correlation of sleep and mental health is bidirectional

Question 3

Sleep & emotion generation

Answer 3

Inadequate sleep (duration, continuity or quality)
—> greater negative and fewer positive emotions
- similar in lab-based and real-world situations

• results vary considerably (might be due to methodology)

Sleep plays important role in appraisal of previously encountered stimuli

Nighttime sleep —> maintain negative appraisal

Daytime wakefulness—> negative appraisal decreases

Question 4

Sleep & situation selection

Answer 4

Sleep deprivation can undermine motivation to seek out and participate in positive social situations

—> lower frequency & less regularity of social activities

Altered neural reward circuitry —> decreased motivation for & altered valuation of rewards

• increase exposure to negative situations (e.g. call in sick more)

Select emotional congruent situations

Question 5

Situation modification

Answer 5

Impaired decision making, poor impulsive control

Impaired self-monitoring, appropriate interaction with others, pick up on non-verbal cues & identify others emotions

• more social loafing

Question 6

Attentional deployment

Answer 6

E.g. distraction

Increased activity in emotional brain regions in response to negative emotional stimuli (opposite of distraction)

• general depletion of attentional resources —> unable to shift attention between emotional and non-emotional sources
• impaired attention to emotional faces
  (Attention to threatening faces maintained,)

Question 7

Cognitive change

Answer 7

May somewhat be robust to sleep deprivation,
Especially for people who tend to use reappraisal

-tend to think less positively

Question 8

Response modulation

Answer 8

Inhibition of emotional expression not impaired

• global emotional expressiveness decreased