No neutral gear for the sleep-deprived

摘要

Dark puffy eyes, a feeling of deep exhaustion, and a foul mood to match - all of us have experienced the side effects of a lack of sleep. But exactly why sleep is so important for our well-being remains a mystery. Talma Hendler of Tel Aviv University in Israel is particularly interested in how being short of sleep leaves us with a short fuse. "We know that sleep affects our emotional behaviour, but we don't know how," she says. To investigate, Hendler and her colleagues kept 18 adults awake all night. "It took a great effort," she says. "During the night, we repeatedly measured their sleepiness, and unsurprisingly they got more and more tired."