L7 Sleep and Emotion Regulation Flashcards
(26 cards)
What is emotion regulation?
The process by which individuals influence which emotions they have, when they have them and how they experience and express their emotions
It is an adaptive function, really key that we’re able to regulate emotions
How can we regulate positive and negative emotions?
Can both down regulate and up regulate positive and negative emotions so that we behave appropriately in different environments e.g. not laughing at a funeral, appearing happy at work when actually feeling emotional
How does sleep affect ER?
SD affects cognitive function, emotional well being is now being considered
Suggested that emotion processing actually occurs in REM sleep. Any disruptions fragmentation of REM sleep actually disrupts the functioning of brain networks active during day; disturbing emotions
What is the role of REM sleep in ER?
Increased activity of brain networks associated with emotions (amygdala and PFC) during REM sleep
Alterations and abnormalities in REM are associated with daytime affective states - been linked to mood disorders
But the relationship is very complex and can be bidirectional (our emotions can affect how we sleep)
What did Dinges et al. (1997) find?
Took baseline sleep and recorded a profile of emotions - the higher you score the better you feel
Recorded this before SD then had 7 days of SD restricted to 4-5 hours and then had a recovery period
Mood was severely affected during periods of SD, the longer the period of SD, the increased likelihood of mood dropping even further
What is the ‘sleep to forget sleep to remember model’ (Walker & Helm, 2009)
Sleep helps us to encode emotional memories, REM sleep especially helps us maintain sleep homeostasis
During sleep the hippocampus, cortical regions and amygdala are reactivated to help encode memory
In REM the emotional tone of the memory is reduced and will gradually reduce with more sleep
A very adaptive function - if we didn’t, every emotional experience would be as intense as when we first experienced it e.g. traumatic experiences
Would constantly feel emotional - links with ‘sleep on it’
Why is it difficult to study dreams and nightmares?
Because although you can look at the brain activity you have to rely on PP’s subjective recall
How are dreams related to ER?
Presumed to serve important function, like we dream to process emotions from that day
Organise and regulate emotional memories
How are nightmares related to ER?
Actually reflect a failure of regulating emotions, a lack of control
Commonly associated with mental disorders like PTSD, which are often linked with traumatic memories
This is a key sign of a failure to regulate emotions associated with this memory
How did Yoo et al. (2007) investigate emotional reactivity?
Group of healthy adults assigned to SD group and control group
Control group had normal day and sleep and then came in to do the study where their brains were scanned with fMRI during the study
The SD group didn’t sleep the night before so had been awake 35 hours and completed the study with the fMRI scan
They showed the individuals images which got progressively more negative and could be quite traumatic
What did Yoo et al. (2007) find?
Found both groups showed increased activation to negative stimuli which was expected
BUT the SD group’s amygdala activity was 60% greater than the control group
Proposed this is due to disrupted connectivity to medial PFC which acts as a brake on the amygdala
No longer have control over amygdala and emotions
What did Gujar et al. (2011) investigate in relation to emotion reactivity?
Assessed whether sleep modulated our ability to recognise emotions
Looked specifically at happy, angry, sad and fearful faces
Some PPs had a nap and others didn’t
Measured their sensitivity to the facial expressions
The no nap group showed greater sensitivity to fear and anger
Happy faces showed greater sensitivity in the nap group
What did Gujar et al. (2011) find in relations to REM during naps?
Split nap group into those who achieved REM and those who didn’t
REM group were significantly less sensitive to fear expressions and more sensitive to happy expressions
Non REM group showed no significant differences in sensitivity
Clearly something happening in REM
What is the link between sleep and mental health?
Sleep problems are key symptoms in various mental health disorders, right across the board
What is the cycle of depression?
Reduced serotonin levels (which play role in wakefulness)
Impaired sleep patterns
Tired next morning
Depressive thinking style - can lead to feelings of hopelessness and anxiety which can further impair sleep
Emotionally arousing rumination
Over dreaming (REM) and less SWS - less recuperation
Tiredness the next morning
Can be really difficult to break out of
What hypnogram differences can be observed in depression?
Longer REM episodes and less time in deep sleep
REM comes earlier in the night (decreased REM latency)
How do anti-depressants affect REM sleep?
MAOIs, TCAs and SSRIs all increase REM latency and decrease the % of REM sleep
Despite having different effects on other aspects of sleep, they all target REM sleep
Is this causing an improvement in depressive symptoms or is it the improvement in depressive symptoms that leads to decreased REM %
Confirms a biological element
What 2 groups of neurons have hypotheses been made about?
REM-on neurons: LDT cholinergic neurons and PPT cholinergic neurons
REM-off neurons: DR serotonergic neurons and LC noradrenergic neurons
What is the pattern between REM-on and REM-off neurons?
Reciprocal inhibitions
When REM-on neurons fire, the REM-off neurons are quiet and vice versa
Go back and forth through the night
What happens in individuals with depression at level of REM neurons?
Have low serotonergic activity and noradrenergic activity so struggle to turn off REM
Taking anti-depressants increases extracellular serotonin and some increase in noradrenergic activity so they are able to turn off REM
What happens if you wake depressed individuals up before they get into REM?
Improve depressive symptoms the following day
They have dysfunctional REM
But want them to achieve healthy REM
What conclusions can be drawn from this area of research?
That there are overlapping brain pathways and mechanisms in mental illness and sleep disruption
What has been found surrounding executive functions and mood?
There is evidence that mood affects brain systems that are involved in executive functions
These neural areas are sensitive to sleep deprivation
What did Mauss et al find in relation to cognitive appraisal?
PPs who reported poor sleep quality at baseline performed worse on the cognitive reappraisal task compared to adequate sleep quality PPs
