Our sleep shows how risk-seeking we are

Date:
March 22, 2022
Source:
University of Bern
Summary:
Each person has their own individual sleep profile which
can be identified by the electrical brain activity during
sleep. Researchers have now demonstrated that the brain waves
during periods of deep sleep in a specific area of the brain can
be used to determine the extent of an individual's propensity for
risk during their everyday life.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
Each person has their own individual sleep profile which can be
identified by the electrical brain activity during sleep. Researchers
at the University of Bern have now demonstrated that the brain waves
during periods of deep sleep in a specific area of the brain can be used
to determine the extent of an individual's propensity for risk during
their everyday life.


==========================================================================
Each day, we make countless decisions in which we take different risks
-- in road traffic, when buying shares or in our sexual behavior,
for example. The propensity for risk varies from one individual to the
next. Researchers led by Daria Knoch, Professor of Social Neuroscience
at the University of Bern, have demonstrated that clues in the brain
concerning an individual's propensity for risk can be gathered as they
sleep: "The fewer slow waves an individual has over their right prefrontal cortex during deep sleep, the greater their propensity for risk. Among
other functions, this region of the brain is important to control one's
own impulses," explains the neuroscientist. The results have recently
been published in the journalNeuroImage.

High data density and sleep investigation at participant's home Slow
waves occur during deep sleep and indicate good sleep quality and
regeneration. The topographical distribution of slow waves in the brain
is highly individual and is highly stable over time; this means each
individual has their own personal neuronal sleep profile. To determine
whether this profile reveals anything about an individual's propensity for risk, the research team studied 54 "good sleepers," who typically sleep
for seven to eight hours. These were identified using actigraphs, which
track the patterns of movement during sleep. Because: "The individual
slow-wave profile can only be interpreted correctly during normal sleep," explains leader of the study, Lorena Gianotti.

In the next step, sleep data was collected at participants' home using
a portable polysomnographic system with 64 electrodes placed at their
scalp. "The undisturbed measurement of the brain activity during sleep
in a familiar environment and the high density of data collected by the
64 electrodes are rather rare as a constellation in sleep research. This
allows the participants to sleep naturally and allows us to collect a
large quantity of data," explains doctoral student and first author,
Mirjam Studler.

Less deep sleep in the right prefrontal cortex And this data is very
meaningful and significant: participants who show lower slow-wave activity
over their right prefrontal cortex generally demonstrate a greater
propensity for risk than individuals with more slow-wave activity. The propensity to take risks was elicited in a computer game where they could
win actual money: the participants had to decide how far they would drive
a car in the knowledge that at some point, a wall would appear with which
the car would collide. Each meter driven earned them more money, but also increased their risk of crashing. "Interestingly, the sleep duration had
no impact in terms of propensity for risk, at least in our study with
good sleepers. Rather, it is crucial that deep sleep takes place in the
'right' brain regions -- in this case, in the right prefrontal cortex," explains Lorena Gianotti.

Possible implications Health economics research has demonstrated
that risky behavior can have both considerable health-related and
financial consequences. According to the researchers, gaining a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying the propensity for risky
behaviour is therefore important. "Our findings can be incorporated into targeted interventions. Sleep researchers are now developing techniques
to specifically modulate slow waves," says Daria Knoch.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Bern. Note: Content
may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Mirjam Studler, Lorena R.R. Gianotti, Katharina Koch, Jan Hausfeld,
Leila
Tarokh, Angelina Maric, Daria Knoch. Local slow-wave
activity over the right prefrontal cortex reveals individual
risk preferences. NeuroImage, 2022; 253: 119086 DOI:
10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119086 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220322122801.htm

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