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Our brains are like gremlins – they’re not meant to be awake after midnight
Have you ever found your emotions spiraling out of control as you pour yourself another glass of wine at 2.30 am, while the only light in the room is the one emanating from your laptop screen?
Well, there is likely a biological basis for that, according to neurology professor Elizabeth Kerman. She has spent years investigating how fragmented or insufficient sleep affects how we function the day afterward. She has since turned her attention to the changes in cognition and behavior that happen while were up at night with potentially deadly consequences for our physical health, our mental health, and the wellbeing of other people.
Dont ever feed him after midnight!
OK, so the Gremlins analogy works in only a limited way. In the 1984 movie, feeding a Mogwai after midnight causes it to transform into a Gremlin, hence the name.
Your brain is a little bit like a Mogwai, according to Elizabeth Kerman’s Mind After Midnight hypothesis. Shes a professor of neurology whose investigations into how our brains work at night have produced some remarkable ideas.
The basis of her hypothesis is that from an evolutionary standpoint, our internal biological circadian clocks are tuned towards processes that promote sleep, not wakefulness, after midnight.
Of course, this makes sense. For hundreds of thousands of years before the advent of electricity, when the Sun went down, we went to bed with it. When it rose, we rose. Our daily routine followed the Sun, and our brains got used to this.
Nevertheless, there are millions of people who are awake in the middle of the night, she says. And theres fairly good evidence that their brain is not functioning as well as it does during the day.
But why not?
Our brains work differently at different times of the day
Positive affect this is the tendency to experience positive emotions like joy, interest, and alertness is strongest during the morning. You could think of this in terms of your brain rising with the Sun, looking upward instead of downward, and preparing itself for the day ahead.
Its at its lowest point during the night, when were supposed to be asleep when our ancestors wouldve all been asleep.
Meanwhile, negative affect the tendency to experience negative emotions like anger, anxiety, contempt, disgust, fear, guilt, sadness, and shame is highest at night.
Moreover, your body produces more dopamine at night. This alters your reward and motivation system and makes you or me more likely to engage in risky behavior or seek short-term fulfillment.
Bench Press quotes Dr Kerman talking about her experience of severe jet lag during a trip to Japan and being beside myself waiting to get to sleep.
Then I thought, What if I was a drug addict? I would be out trying to get drugs right now. Later I realized that this may be relevant also if its suicide tendencies, substance abuse or other impulse disorders, gambling, or other addictive behaviors. How can I prove that?
Get to sleep early to prevent potentially catastrophic outcomes
In 2022, Dr Kerman laid out the Mind After Midnight hypothesis.
At night, she wrote, our brains are attuned to being asleep. Thats what they have evolved to expect.
If we are awake at these times, neurophysiology is prone to foster behavioral dysregulation. We tend towards having less attentional focus on neutral or negative stimuli ; our reward/motivation system is out of whack; and we feel more impulsive due to hormone levels different from what were used to.
These conditions poor mood, impaired judgment, and impulsivity can lead to maladaptive behaviors and catastrophic outcomes, she wrote. For example, cravings for illicit substances can be more intense at night, and a dose that would have been sufficient during the day may not feel like enough at night.
A disproportionate amount of suicides and homicides happen at night, according to research we reported on in June. Specifically, compared to other hours, the period between 2 am and 3 am has an eight-fold greater risk for homicide and a five-fold greater risk of suicide.
The simplest solution, Dr Kerman concluded, would be to help vulnerable individuals to sleep through the night. Interventions could include treatment for insomnia, pain, cravings, or anything else that keeps vulnerable people up at night.
If you are affected by any issues raised in the article or would like someone to speak to, please call or text 988 to reach out and speak to a counselor. You can reach the Crisis Text Line by sending the letters MHA to 741741 or call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room if you’re struggling or in crisis.
You can also contact the SAMHSA Disaster Distress Helpline at 1-800-985-5990 or text Talk With Us to 66746.
In the UK, you can contact the Samaritans for free on 116 123. You can also email them at [email protected] or visit Samaritans – Here to listen to find your nearest branch in the UK. You can text SHOUT to 85258 for help, or text YM if you’re under the age of 19. If you’re under 19 you can also call Childline on 0800 1111, and this number won’t appear on your phone bill.
