Why Sleep Deprivation Makes You Crabby?

When you're tired, it can seem as if everything is filtered through a negative lens.

That might be because your positive lens is fuzzy when you are sleep-deprived, according to findings of two related studies published last year in the Journal of Psychosomatic Research. Two groups of college students completed a series of tests to assess their emotional responses to negative and positive pictures, similar to those often shown on the nightly news.

Twenty-eight students completed the test at various points throughout a night of simulated shift work after getting five hours of sleep, and 31 students did the same after staying awake for more than 24 hours. The students completed a short survey to indicate how each picture made them feel. [More]