There are seemingly endless reasons to pull an all-nighter: exams, finalizing an important pitch to clients, a birthday bar crawl, trying to earn more experience points in Farmville. Both college and the “real world” have their fair share of sleepless nights. While crankiness and moodiness are tell-tale signs of no sleep, research suggests a surprising plus to staying up: short-term euphoria (the body’s natural high).

Not Enough Time In The Day — Why It Matters

Using MRI to study 27 young adults, researchers found participants who pulled an all-nighter experienced (short-lived) bouts of euphoria and heightened positive feelings. But it’s not all lollipops and double rainbows. While any lack of sleep causes a boost in dopamine (the neurotransmitter linked to pleasure and happiness) levels, it can also potentially lead to risky behavior due to a surge of overly optimistic emotions. It turns out lack of sleep switches the brain from rational-based decision making to the emotionally charged fight-or-flight mode. This may not seem like a huge deal for college students (that’s just another Friday night frat party), but for doctors, pilots, accountants, or lawyers it may be a serious side effect to consider. Yet sleep deprivation is no laughing matter. One study showed that lack of sleep impairs cognitive performance, knowledge retention, and awareness Circadian and wakefulness-sleep modulation and cognition in humans. Wright, KP., Lowry CA., Lebourgeois, MK. Department of Integrative Physiology, Sleep and Chronobiology Laboratory, University of Colorado, Boulder, USA. Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience, 2012;5:50 .

No Sleep ‘til Brooklyn — The Answer/Debate