Sleep on it: how sleep helps make the right decisions

Folk wisdom has never arises out of the blue. It is obvious at first glance, saying, "Sleep on it" hides a deeper meaning. Sleep helps us make the right decisions, and it should be used in order to avoid mistakes and failures.

How are the dream and the ability to make informed decisions

Recent studies suggest a direct link between quality of sleep and willpower person. Anyone who does not get enough sleep or have sleep problems, often make impulsive decisions, difficulty concentrating, he is prone to unnecessary risk. Enough sleep helps to improve self-control and willpower to train. Moreover, in this exercise you will spend less energy than those who slept little and trying to improve.

The results of studies with MRI only confirm these facts. When members of a scientific experiment tried to control impulses and behavior, scientists have noted an increased activity of the prefrontal cortex. Brain scans of people who have problems with sleep, showed that they have this activity is reduced. The researchers suggest: the ability to self-control is directly dependent on the quality and amount of sleep.

The relationship between dream and willpower is easily explained. The ability to control himself, to make the right decisions and make the right choice requires analytical thinking and attentiveness. Not surprisingly, those who sleep poorly and little, lose the ability to think clearly.

Lack of sleep interferes with the normal operation of the prefrontal cortex. But another area responsible for pleasure and reward starts to work more actively.

The best illustration of this process is an example of a food choice. Several studies have confirmed that when a person is not getting enough sleep, he begins to actively think about eating. Therefore, lack of sleep is associated with being overweight, regular intake of oily and junk food, fast food and a deviation from the normal diet.

But the consequences of lack of sleep affect not only food.

People who are poor or little sleep, opt for the simplest way to solve problems, prone to risk and lose the ability to make moral judgments own actions.

Sleep also helps control emotions. Research suggests that poor quality sleep makes you overly sensitive to stressful situations. Those neurobiological structures that are involved in the formation of emotions and experience are not working due to lack of sleep. And when the man slept, they were again actively involved in the regulatory process of the emotional background. Even a short nap helps to avoid frustration, over-voltage and over-impulsiveness in decisions.

Why do you need to know about it

The importance of good sleep is necessary to know not only because it can keep you from making hasty and ill health. Those who seriously attended to their health and intend to change the way of life, should pay particular attention to sleep. This will help to control myself, to develop good habits, making healthy choices every day.