Sleep Deprivation Mimics Being Drunk?

There was a longer-than-usual segment on 60 Minutes on Sunday that discussed how sleep deprivation can hamper cognitive ability. At one point in the segment Leslie Stahl talked about how sleep deprivation mimics, to some degree, someone drunk, and that sleep deprivation can affect the emotional centers of the brain (called the amygdala) and hampers its connection to the frontal lobes (which control rational thought and decision making). This means that emotional thoughts were not being kept in check or balanced by the more rational part of the brain.

Boy, if this does not sound like someone that has had too much to drink, huh? Don't we all know folks that have had "a few too many" and then start saying things they probably would not be saying otherwise? The affects seem to be very similar.

Leslie Stahl also mentioned that the decision making part of the brain is temporarily diminished or shut down, which leads to irrational decision making.

This is why The Joshua Project focuses its energy on prevention and why self responsibility is key to modifying behavior. Once a person is in a different state (drunk, or sleep deprived) we can no longer expect them to make rational decisions. That's not to excuse anyone of their actions (we all must be held accountable for our actions). That is to say, however, in order to reduce problems like drunk driving, we need to educate folks with tools and techniques before they put themselves in a position of diminished rational thought.

This is also why our soon to be launched program like Cab Angels will allow the bartenders and restaurant owners to call the cabs and not the patrons. The hope is that the restaurant/bar owner will coax, prod, nudge the patron to go along with that decision.

Here is the link to the sleep deprivation study:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/03/14/60minutes/main3939721.shtml