After midnight, negative emotions often capture our attention more than positive ones.
The Mind After Midnight is Quite Different
Some researchers suggest that the human circadian rhythm is deeply connected to significant changes in how our minds operate, as highlighted in a 2022 paper synthesizing evidence on how the brain functions differently at night.
Their hypothesis, termed “The Mind After Midnight”, posits that the human body and mind follow a natural 24-hour activity cycle that influences our emotions and behaviors. In short, at certain hours, humans tend to perceive and act in specific ways.
There is considerable evidence that the human mind operates differently when awake at night – (Image: Canva)
For instance, during the day, brain activity is adjusted for alertness. However, at night, our typical behavior is to sleep. From an evolutionary perspective, this makes sense. Humans are more efficient at hunting and foraging during the day, and while nighttime is good for rest, humans historically faced a higher risk of becoming prey.
According to researchers, to cope with this heightened risk, our attention to negative stimuli is unusually heightened at night.
While this ability helped us respond to unseen threats, an excessive focus on negativity can lead individuals to engage in dangerous behaviors. Coupled with insomnia, this state of consciousness can become even more severe.
More Research Needed for Understanding
“My call is for more research to examine this issue, as the health and safety of many individuals are at stake,” said neuroscientist Elizabeth Klerman from Harvard University. The authors use two examples to illustrate their point.
The first example is a heroin addict who can control cravings during the day but finds them irresistible at night. The second example involves a college student struggling with insomnia, who begins to feel desperate, lonely, and depressed as sleepless nights pile up. Both scenarios can ultimately lead to lethal consequences.
Suicidal behavior and self-harm are notably prevalent at night. In fact, some studies report that the risk of suicide is three times higher from midnight to 6 AM compared to any other time of day.
A 2020 study concluded that staying awake at night is a suicide risk factor, “potentially through circadian rhythm imbalance.”
Prohibited or dangerous substances are also often used more at night. In 2020, research at a supervised drug consumption center in Brazil revealed that the risk of opioid overdose is 4.7 times higher at night.
Some of these behaviors can be explained by sleep deprivation or the concealment provided by darkness, but there may also be neurological changes occurring at night.
Researchers like Klerman and her colleagues argue that these factors need further investigation to ensure protection for those at the highest risk from staying awake at night.
So far, the authors note that no studies have examined how sleep deprivation and circadian rhythms affect an individual’s reward processing in the brain. Therefore, we genuinely do not know how shift workers, such as pilots or doctors, cope with their irregular sleep schedules.
For about six hours each day, we know very little about how the human brain operates. Whether asleep or awake, the mind after midnight remains a mystery. This research has been published in the journal Frontiers in Network Psychology.
