Lack of Sleep Leads to Diminished Grasp of Facial Expressions

Chronic lack of sleep has been linked to high blood pressure, diabetes, aging skin, elevated cholesterol levels, weight gain and more. Now researchers have done a study that seems to suggest missing shuteye has another less serious side effect: the inability to tell when someone else is happy or sad by looking at his or her face.

In the small study – which was led by William Killgore, a University of Arizona professor of psychiatry, psychology and medical imaging –
54 participants were shown 180 photos that were created by morphing commonly confused facial expressions, such as disgust and anger. The participants were asked to identify the emotions they believed each image represented.

Then the study volunteers were deprived of sleep for a full night and asked to repeat the test.

Read the full article at New Atlas.