We often have to face various important decisions in our lives, whether to learn from the experience or to go back to Gao LaozhuangLove orange cats or civets?Red or blue for the pills?To be or not to be......It's all a problem. There are many things that need to be decided, but people are not always rational. Emotions, cognitive biases, social pressures, time constraints, and various objective factors can all affect how rational decisions are. We all know that we can't make important decisions when we are emotionally or informed, and we know that we try not to rush into important decisions when time is of the essence. But have you noticed?An individual's physical state is also an important factor that affects rationality. A recent study revealedSleep deprivation increases the risk of decision-making[1]。The study, which compared people who rested normally with those who stayed up all night, found that acute sleep deprivation impairs the brain's association with behavior and weakens the brain's response to decision-making outcomes. In other words, sleep deprivation can make it harder for us to judge the risks and consequences of decisions, making it easier to make bad decisions. Of course, this is not the first time that people have noticed the relationship between sleep and decision-making, and so far, there has been a considerable amount of literature exploring the impact of sleep deprivation on people's decision-making ability from multiple perspectives. 
Stock copyright**, the importance of sleep that may lead to copyright disputes is undeniable. Even without looking at the scientific literature, the intuitive life experience can make everyone realize this. After every active or passive stay up late, everyone has experienced fatigue, slow reactions, abnormal emotions, etc., and some people also have physical discomforts such as dizziness, headache, palpitation, and chest pain. Previous scientific studies have also shown the correlation between the effects of sleep on cognitive function, memory levels, emotional health, endocrine levels, metabolic function, and various diseases. Specific to the cognitive level,Past studies have found that sleep deprivation increases a person's tendency to take risks[2], by altering the activity of certain areas of the brain and the secretion of dopamine, sleep deprivation can make the brain's judgment of risk error [3]. People can be overly optimistic about the probability and value of the reward and underestimate the possible risks and losses. Lack of sleep causes areas in the brain to react excessively strongly to rewards. This means that even smaller rewards can be over-amplified, making people overly interested in them. At the same time, the brain is more inclined to pursue immediate, short-term rewards and ignore long-term benefits. That's why people who stay up late are always craving high-calorie foods such as fried chicken, barbecue, cola, etc., and are prone to overdose, but rarely crave chicken breast and broccoli suddenly. Sleep deprivation can also affect areas of the brain responsible for cognitive control[3], which can lead to a decrease in people's ability to respond to specific problems, and to be more easily distracted by external environmental disturbances, making it difficult to concentrate on complex thinking. People also make hasty decisions more often without adequate thought and evaluation because they have difficulty suppressing impulsive behavior. That's why a lot of people's impulse shopping is more likely to happen in the middle of the night. In addition to the "rational" dimensions of reward mechanism, risk assessment, self-control, and concentration, staying up late or not getting enough sleep will also affect the rationality of people's decision-making through the "emotional" characteristic of emotion. For example,Sleep deprivation amplifies responses to negative emotional stimuli by affecting the amygdala of the human brain[4] One can misestimate how unfriendly others are and give overly drastic reactions. Staying up late can also significantly increase a person's anxiety level[5] , people are more likely to have mood swings, aggression, or depression and self-destructive tendencies. These changes not only hurt people's emotional well-being and social skills, but also reduce the accuracy of people's judgments when dealing with daily tasks and planning for the future, and induce people to make irrational decisions under pressure. In short, sleep deprivation affects both the rational thinking and the emotional experience of the person. Therefore, if you want to make any important decisions, not only should you not be emotionally or in a hurry, but it is also best not to stay up late or lack of sleep. In any case, let's talk about it when you're full. References
1] mao, tianxin et al. “sleep deprivation attenuates neural responses to outcomes from risky decision-**psychophysiology, e14465. 31 oct. 2023, doi:10.1111/psyp.14465
2] lei, yu et al. “neural correlates of increased risk-taking propensity in sleep-deprived people along with a changing risk level.” brain imaging and beh**ior vol. 11,6 (2017): 1910-1921. doi:10.1007/s11682-016-9658-7
3] krause aj, simon eb, mander ba, et al. the sleep-deprived human brain. nat rev neurosci. 2017;18(7):404-418. doi:10.1038/nrn.2017.55
4] yoo ss, gujar n, hu p, jolesz fa, walker mp. the human emotional brain without sleep--a prefrontal amygdala disconnect. curr biol. 2007;17(20):r877-r878. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2007.08.007
5] ben simon e, rossi a, harvey ag, walker mp. overanxious and underslept [published correction appears in nat hum beh**.2020 dec;4(12):1321]. nat hum beh**.2020;4(1):100-110. doi:10.1038/s41562-019-0754-8
Planning and production
This article is a work of popular science China-Star Project.
Produced by the Department of Science Popularization of the China Association for Science and Technology.
Producer: China Science and Technology Press***, Beijing Zhongke Galaxy Culture Media***
Author Flying Knife Breaking Rain Doctor.
Audit丨Li Jingjing, Professor and Chief Physician of the Department of Neurology, Beijing Tiantan Hospital.
Planning丨Xu Lai.
Editor丨Yang Yaping.