While lack of sleep is a major risk factorfor depression, not everyone who tosses and turns at night becomes depressed. According to a study, individuals whose brains are more attuned to rewards may be protected from the negative mental health effects of poor sleep. The findings revealed that students with poor quality sleep were less likely to have symptoms of depression if they had higher activity in a reward sensitive region of the brain
This helps us begin to understand why some people are more likely to experience depression when they have problems with sleep, "said Ahmad Hariri, professor at the uke university in north carolina, US, "this finding may one day help us identify individuals for whom sleep hygiene may be more effective or more important.