People who do not get adequate sleep are likely to have a more intensive risk-seeking behavior without even noticing, suggests a study.
Adolescents and young adults need about 9 hours of sleep a day on an average, while older adults require about 7.5 hours of sleep daily. Those who are unable meet their sleep requirements are likely to face adverse health consequences, severe attention deficits being one of them. This, in turn, may lead to riskier decision-making.
A team of researchers assessed the risk behavior of 14 healthy male students (18 to 28 years old). They were given a choice between getting a particular amount of money paid out with a certain probability or playing it safe with a lesser amount of money paid out with surety. The riskier the decision, the more attractive the prize money.
The results showed that 11 of 14 participants engaged in a clearly riskier decision-making behaviour. This behaviour worsened towards the end of the week. However, the researchers were surprised to see that the students did not notice themselves acting riskier when suffering from a lack of sleep.
The team stated that certain parts of the brain are unable to recover properly due to a chronic lack of sleep, leading to risky actions. They added that the findings of this study should be built up on, as they may have particular relevance for people involved wide-reaching decision-making.
Source: Annals of Neurology