Poor sleep in anxiety, depression may make it harder to see positive

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https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/04/170418151243.htm           
         The research article suggests the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (associated with reappraisal), may require more work to modify negative emotional responses through processes such as reappraisal in people with poor sleep who have depression or anxiety. The participants in the study included 78 patients from 18 to 65 years old who had been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, a major depressive disorder or both. Troubles with sleep are common with people who suffer from anxiety and depression, making them good candidates for this study. Data collected using actigraph testing (which measure their awake time in bed or “sleep efficiency”) over a six-day period indicated that the majority of the participants had insomnia. In the study, researchers used functional MRIs to measure brain activity in different regions as subjects were asked to perform an emotion-regulation task. In the task the participants were shown disturbing images of violence from war or accidences and asked to either look at the pictures and not try to control their reaction or to reappraise the imagine in a more positive light.  Based on the sleep data those with lower sleep efficiency had higher activity in the dorsal anterior cingulated cortex area. This data could suggest that this area is working harder to carry out the demanding work of reappraisal. Reappraisal is a process that requires a great deal of mental energy that can make it hard for people with depression or anxiety because chronic negativity or rumination are both "symptoms" of these disorders. 

            I found this article to be interested and relevant to the lecture about emotion regulation. Although, it did not seem very convincing beyond the obvious notion that sleep is necessary for higher-level cognitive processes.  My criticism of this research article is that it did not reference any type of control group, such as a participant group that didn’t have sleep problems or an anxiety/depressive disorder. Being that all the participants had either an anxiety or depression disorder, it is harder to be convinced of the efficacy of the research. Despite this it does seem like a topical area that is worth further exploring because the ability to reappraise a situation is an important aspect of clinical interventions of these disorders. I also feel that this research involving the need for sleep could be generalized beyond the scope of those with clinical diagnoses of anxiety or depression to anyone trying to practice emotional regulation strategies such as reappraisal.

Comments

  1. UnknownApril 27, 2017 at 1:01 PM

    While I understand what the researchers are trying to communicate, I agree with you in regards to the fact that this research may not be very convincing. While the article explains that the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (DACC) is more active in their participants who also happen to sleep less efficiently, I disagree with their hypothesis as to why. They explain that there is more activity in the DACC because the participants lacking sleep are using more energy for reappraisal because of the fact that they did not get a good night's sleep, but I wonder if they are using more energy simply because those prone to depression and anxiety have a harder time reappraising negative emotions to positive ones in general. As you stated, there was no control group to account for this possibility. It seems more likely to me that the participants seemed to struggle with reappraisal because of the fact that they are depressed/anxious, not the fact that they do not sleep efficiently. I would be interested in further research examining the effects of the sleep variable alone, using participants without mental health disorders, or comparing those with and without.

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  2. UnknownApril 30, 2017 at 11:16 PM

    With the gap in greater detail of this article, I do wonder if maybe there is a reverse connection. In class we learned that sleep has an important impact on the brain because during sleep is when Cerebrospinal Fluid washes over the brain, rinsing the ventricles of any debris which enables us to wake feeling refreshed. I am curious as to if the build up of debris in the ventricles due to lack of CSF washing over could contribute on its own to an individual's anxiety or depressive disorders. When we wake feeling foggy, we are not usually in a positive mood, therefore there may be a connection into chronically waking up feeling this way and how the brain interprets the mood being so consistently negative.

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  3. UnknownMay 1, 2017 at 8:57 PM

    The Dorsolateral PFC plays a role in memory processes to work through emotional goals. The Ventrolateral PFC helps select appropriate responses to situations. As discussed in class, activity in the lateral PFC is decreased. This causes people with depression to focus on negative thoughts they first had in reaction to a stimulus. The article brings light to this. I imagine that the dlPFC is involved in sleep based on its role in memory processing; with it's activity decreased, proper sleep cannot be achieved. This coupled with the struggle of decreased vlPFC, adds to the difficulty depressed people have in emotion regulation.

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