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Sleep deprivation may affect the assessment of threat and alter the central and peripheral nervous system connections that underlie threat assessment. In this crossover study, 18 adults (mean age, 20) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging twice while identifying threat levels in 70 computer-generated faces that were morphed from threatening to nonthreatening (7 displays of each face): once after a night of total sleep deprivation and once after polysomnography-monitored sleep (mean, 7.5 hours). Sessions were presented in random order 6 days apart.
Significantly more faces were identified as threatening and fewer as nonthreatening after sleep deprivation than after rest. In post-rest sessions, recognition of threat was associated wi…