Written on 10-05-2025

Study after study shows how poor sleep negatively affects physical and mental health. And now, a new report suggests that it might also make people more selfish. The report looked at three studies: one showed loss of sleep resulted in fewer donations, another indicated people were less willing to help others, and a third showed significant impairment to a brain network that helps us understand the needs of others. This can have profound effects: as one of the researchers noted, “A lack of sleep makes people less empathetic, less generous, more socially withdrawn, and it’s infectious—there is contagion of loneliness.”

Read “Sleepless and shellfish” on Science Daily