Mind After Midnight Hypothesis: Staying Awake Late at Night or Past Circadian Rhythm Causes Adverse Changes in the Brain

At night, negative thoughts have a way of drifting through a person's mind. As they lay awake, thoughts of craving guilt pleasures start to come that compel the person to stay awake.

People who stay awake past midnight may find themselves identifying with the Mind After Midnight hypothesis that suggests staying past one's biological circadian night, usually past 12 a.m., could result in neurophysiological changes in the brain that affect its functions.

Researchers explore this hypothesis and discuss it in detail in their new study, titled "The Mind After Midnight: Nocturnal Wakefulness, Behavioral Dysregulation, and Psychopathology," which is published in the journal Frontiers in Network Psychology.

Mind After Midnight Hypothesis

Previous studies show that the human mind functions differently when awake at nighttime. Researchers were curious about the negative effects of sleeping past midnight, such as having negative emotions, reduced inhibition, and negative thoughts.

They outlined in their new study how circadian rhythm is heavily involved in these neurophysiological changes and summarized the evidence of how the brain functions after the dark. They call their hypothesis "Mind After Midnight," suggesting that the human body and mind follow a 24-hour cycle of activity that influences behavior and emotion.

That means that humans are inclined to feel in a specific way during certain hours, Science Alert reported. For example, molecular levels and brain activity are tuned to wakefulness, but this usually changes at night. From an evolutionary standpoint, hunter-gatherers in ancient times hunted and gathered food during the day and rested at night.

Researchers said that the attention to negative stimuli usually heightens at night that could feed into an altered reward or motivation system that makes a person prone to risky behaviors. Combined with sleep loss, the state of consciousness past midnight becomes more problematic.

(Photo : Pixabay/KristopherK)
Mind After Midnight Hypothesis: Staying Awake Late at Night Causes Adverse Changes in the Brain

Neurologist Elizabeth Klerman from Harvard University said in a press release that the brains of people awake in the middle of the night usually do not function as well as they do during the day.

Researchers compared the hypothesis to being under the influence of heroin and a college student struggling with insomnia. Both examples can be fatal and result in self-harm or suicide.

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Nothing Good Comes After Midnight

People who stay awake past midnight are at higher risk of engaging in harmful behavior, like suicide, violent crime, and substance abuse. Michael L. Perils, Ph.D., an associate professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania and co-author of the "Mind After Midnight" hypothesis, cited a study that shows suicides are statistically more likely to occur during nighttime.

Moreover, SciTech Daily reported that homicides and other violent crimes are more common at night. Also, nighttime food choices tend to be more unhealthy as people eat more carbohydrates, fat, and processed foods.

Researchers explain that a crime could be easily committed at night, hence the prevalence of violent acts when the sun is down. But there could also be a biological explanation.

Klerman said that circadian influence on the mind changes within 24 hours, leading to differences in how people process and respond to the world. An example is how humans view information during the day in a more positive light because this is when circadian influences are tuned to wakefulness.

On the other hand, people tend to view things in a negative light more often at night. The body naturally produces more dopamine at night, which alters reward and motivation, increasing the chances of engaging in risky behavior.