A new study in lab mice shows how sleep helps the brain process emotions. And although it involved animals, the results could solve some of the mysteries of human sleep.
A new study reveals a very important way that sleep helps the brain process emotions the next day. The role of sleep in the functioning of the brain is still not fully established, although there is growing evidence that the so-called REM sleep helps a person to consolidate emotional memories. But scientists are still figuring out how it actually affects the brain.
The prefrontal cortex is the part of the brain that is actively involved in the processing of emotions. During sleep, some of the neurons, known as pyramidal neurons, are suspiciously quiet. Initially, this may seem paradoxical, because this part of the brain helps control emotions during sleep, and if it is inactive, then when do we fall asleep? As it turned out, the silence of these neurons is also a powerful tool. Studies in sleeping and awake mice demonstrate that resting the prefrontal cortex during REM sleep can help reset the entire system.
The results are consistent with other recent studies that have shown that sleep keeps neuronal activity under control. Without adequate REM sleep, emotional messages, including fear, cannot travel through the brain network, making it difficult to identify important signals from all the background noise. In the waking state, this resulted in the mice being very fearful in a calm atmosphere, or not fearing at all when required. (READ MORE) 
University College London
Medicine
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