Lack of Sleep Amplifies Anticipatory Anxiety, New Research Reveals

Lisa Franchi June 28, 2013

Neuroscientists at UC Berkeley found that lack of sleep promotes anticipatory anxiety by activating the brain’s amygdala and insular cortex – brain regions associated with emotional processing. They also found that people who are naturally more anxious and are at risk of anxiety disorder, are more vulnerable to the effects of insufficient sleep.

Anticipatory anxiety happens when a person experiences increased levels of anxiety by thinking about an event or situation in the future. In the current study, scientists examined whether sleep deprivation has an effect to it.

"If sleep disruption is a key factor in anxiety disorders, as this study suggests, then it’s a potentially treatable target," said Matthew Walker, the senior author and a professor of psychology and neuroscience at UC Berkeley. "By restoring good quality sleep in people suffering from anxiety, we may be able to help ameliorate their excessive worry and disabling fearful expectations."

Through an fMRI machine, Walker and his team peeked into the brain of 18 healthy young individuals as they viewed dozens of images (featuring disturbing, alienating and neutral images), first after a good night’s sleep and another after a sleepless night. Participants reported a wide range of baseline anxiety levels but none fit the criteria for a clinical anxiety disorder. 90 images were shown during a 45-minute session.

To elicit anticipatory anxiety, participants were made to expect seeing a highly unpleasant image, such as death scene, once a large red minus sign was shown. When the image to be presented was neutral, participants were shown a yellow circle. Furthermore, a white question mark was shown from time to time to indicate that they are about to see an image that is either gruesome or bland. Among the cues, the question mark symbol provoked anticipatory anxiety the most.

The researchers found that when the participants were sleep-deprived, the activity in the amygdala and insular cortex soared when a suspenseful anticipation for a neutral or disturbing image was stimulated. They also noticed bigger impact of sleep deprivation in those who were innately anxious to begin with.

Whilst previous research has shown that sleep problems and psychiatric disorders often occur together, this is the first study to demonstrate that sleep deprivation triggers excessive anticipatory brain activity associated with anxiety. "These findings help us realize that those people who are anxious by nature are the same people who will suffer the greatest harm from sleep deprivation," Walker said.

Appearing in the Journal of Neuroscience, the study adds to the growing body of research suggesting that people suffering from anxiety disorder, post traumatic stress disorder, depression, panic attacks and other mental illnesses are likely to benefit from sleep therapy.

Source of this article:

Tired and Apprehensive: Anxiety Amplifies the Impact of Sleep Loss on Aversive Brain Anticipation