Self-reported sleep correlates with prefrontal-amygdala functional connectivity and emotional functioning.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychology
• Sleep Science

Background:

• Sleep deprivation is linked to decreased emotional intelligence and increased psychological distress.
• Reduced prefrontal-cortex-amygdala connectivity, potentially impairing emotion regulation, is associated with sleep loss.
• It is unclear if typical sleep curtailment affects this connectivity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between self-reported sleep duration and emotional intelligence, psychological distress, and prefrontal-amygdala connectivity.
• To determine if typical variations in sleep impact emotional and psychological well-being.
• To explore the neural mechanisms underlying the relationship between sleep and emotional regulation.

Main Methods:

• Sixty-five healthy adults reported their sleep hours.
• Participants completed emotional intelligence (EQ-i, MSCEIT) and psychological assessment (PAI) inventories.
• Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to assess brain connectivity.

Main Results:

• Greater sleep duration correlated positively with emotional intelligence (EQ-i) and negatively with psychological distress (PAI).
• Longer sleep was associated with stronger negative functional connectivity between the right ventromedial prefrontal cortex and amygdala.
• Enhanced prefrontal-amygdala connectivity was linked to higher emotional intelligence and lower psychological distress.

Conclusions:

• Self-reported sleep duration is associated with emotional intelligence, psychological distress, and prefrontal-amygdala connectivity.
• Adequate sleep appears to support emotional and psychological strength.
• Findings suggest sleep duration influences emotional regulation via neural pathways.