Can’t sleep? What happens to your brain after midnight

“Nothing good ever happens after midnight,” or so the saying goes. And although this was probably made up by anxious parents who just wanted their children to come home so they could get some sleep, the latest health data about what happens to your brain after midnight supports this point of view.

According to research one third of us are not getting enough sleep, and it turns out that staying up after midnight can lead to mental health challenges and regrettable activities.

This comes from the ‘Mind after Midnight’ hypothesis, which has come out of the Department of Neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital, claiming that the way our brains work physically changes after the clock strikes twelve.

What happens to the brain after midnight

Lead author of the hypothesis, Dr Elizabeth B Klerman, says that when we’re awake, “during the biological circadian night, there are neurophysiological changes in the brain that alter the way we interact with the world, especially actions related to reward processing, impulse control and information processing.”

These changes can “make you more likely to view the world negatively and make impulsive decisions without fully thinking through the consequences.

“The basic idea is that from a high-level, global, evolutionary standpoint, your internal biological circadian clock is tuned towards processes that promote sleep, not wakefulness, after midnight.”

Our behaviour after midnight

Regularly staying awake beyond midnight has been linked to behaviours from relatively innocent will power lapses, like overthinking that problem at work or finishing off the tub of mint choc chip ice cream in the bottom of the freezer even though you know you’ll feel bad later, to the more serious end of the spectrum, including suicidal ideation, self-harm, compulsive gambling, drug and alcohol abuse.

Dr Klerman hopes her hypothesis inspires researchers to look into how circadian differences can affect our behaviour, job performance and decision making in the wee hours.

But it’s not the first time scientists have noted the dangers of interrupting our body’s natural clock. In 2018, a study published in Lancet Psychiatry found those who regularly worked a night shift had an increased risk of mood disorders, depression, and reduced wellbeing.

Kr Klerman’s hypothesis will require further investigation which, ironically for Dr Klerman, will involve a great deal of night work, studying those who stay awake and the effects it has on their brain.

How to get a good night’s sleep

For now, if you’re keen to ensure you avoid those dangers, some ways that have been proven to help you get a good night’s sleep are:

·  Creating a cool and dark environment for sleep

·  White noise such as a fan or soothing music

·  Comfortable mattress and pillows

·  An uncluttered bedroom

·  Dimming the lights in your home in the hours before bed

·  Limiting caffeine and alcohol later in the day

·  Exposing yourself to natural light during the day

·  Avoiding work and emails after dinner

·  Gentle yoga or a warm bath before bed

·  Reading a book to wind down before sleep.

This article was written by Carolyn Tate, a Brisbane-based writer with a particular interest in women’s health, mental health and living well. Carolyn holds a Bachelor of Professional Writing and a Bachelor of Political Science.