Research finds hormonal shifts in our nocturnal brain make us more prone to negativity in the middle of the night.Photo by Getty Images

It's 3 a.m. and your worried brain won't let you go back to sleep. Here's why

Nocturnal changes in the brain make us more prone to negative thoughts in the middle of the night

by · National Post

This feature is part of a National Post series by health reporter Sharon Kirkey on what is keeping us up at night. In the series, Kirkey talks to sleep scientists and brain researchers to explore our obsession with sleep, the seeming lack of it and how we can rest easier.

People tend to slip into a negative place when nature intends them to be asleep. It can be hard to shake the over-thinking, worrying or ruminating, partly because of nocturnal changes in the brain.

Why our obsession with sleep has created a nation of zombiesHumans evolved to be weirdly efficient sleepers, sleeping less than other primates to satisfy their needs and spending more time in a stage of sleep and temporary muscle paralysis so deep, evolutionary anthropologist David Samson has likened it to being “essentially as close to dead as you will ever be.”Sharon Kirkey, 25 Nov 2024Going to bed early backfires. The counterintuitive truth to getting better sleepThis feature is part of a National Post series by health reporter Sharon Kirkey on what is keeping us up at night. In the series, Kirkey talks to sleep scientists and brain researchers to explore our obsession with sleep, the seeming lack of it and how we can rest easier.Sharon Kirkey, 05 Dec 2024