So, during the summer, my 13 year old would STILL be up when I got up for work at 3am. Of course, now that school has started, I may need to take his controllers and phone so he WON’T stay up that late playing video games and chatting it up on his phone…he will NEED sleep! This study proves my point! Researchers from Mass General Research Institute believe they have scientific evidence that our brains are NOT meant to be awake after midnight.
The basic idea is that your internal biological circadian clock is tuned towards sleep after midnight . . . and staying up triggers changes in the brain that cause people to view the world more negatively.
This may lead to more impulsive behavior and high-risk decisions . . . including drinking, overeating, gambling, and criminal activity.
Not everyone who stays up late is partying at the club, some are working as police officers, pilots, factory and health care workers but my boy is up playing video games. Researchers believe their findings could have “important implications” for those people, including impacts to human behavior, decision-making, and job performance.
That said, if you’re a night owl, by choice or out of necessity, don’t be alarmed yet. The researchers are hoping that there will be further studies.
