Emotional balance depends on quality sleep. In this NightOwling lesson, circadian health expert and medical scientist Logan Pendergrast, Ph.D., explains how restorative rest helps the brain regulate emotion and decision-making.
Dr. Pendergrast describes how deep sleep quiets the amygdala, the brain’s emotional response center, while activating the prefrontal cortex, which supports logic, patience, and empathy. When sleep is cut short, this balance shifts, heightening reactivity and stress.
This lesson explores how consistent rest strengthens emotional control and perspective, helping you respond to challenges with clarity and calm.
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So finally, how does sleep affect our
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lives from an emotional standpoint?
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Well, after a night of good rest, we see
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a reduction in the action of an area of
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the brain called the amygdala, which is
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an area of the brain that's responsible
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for feelings of fear and anger.
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Additionally, after a night of good
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rest, we see an increased activation of
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an area of the brain called the
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preffrontal cortex. And the prefrontal
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cortex is responsible for our logic.
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It's responsible for our performance on
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functional tasks that are related to
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higher thinking. So what this adds up to
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is a period of good rest makes us feel a
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bit more patient, a bit more empathetic,
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and helps us function a bit more from a
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higher reasoning standpoint. And this
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has been measured by the folks at
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Berkeley where they have seen that a
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night of poor sleep increases the
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activity of that amygdala, that fear and
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anger area of our brain by up to 60%.
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Set.
