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The Role of Sleep in Emotional Brain Function
Open accessAbstract
Rapidly emerging evidence continues to describe an intimate and causal relationship between sleep and emotional brain function. These findings are mirrored by long-standing clinical observations demonstrating that nearly all mood and anxiety disorders co-occur with one or more sleep abnormalities. This review aims to (a) provide a synthesis of recent findings describing the emotional brain and behavioral benefits triggered by sleep, and conversely, the detrimental impairments following a lack of sleep; (b) outline a proposed framework in which sleep, and specifically rapid-eye movement (REM) sleep, supports a process of affective brain homeostasis, optimally preparing the organism for next-day social and emotional functioning; and (c) describe how this hypothesized framework can explain the prevalent relationships between sleep and psychiatric disorders, with a particular focus on posttraumatic stress disorder and major depression.
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“Sleep promotes memory consolidation in many domains (Rasch and Born, 2013) and has consistently been shown to enhance consolidation of emotional memory albeit with mixed findings as to whether sleep preferentially augments emotional over neutral memories (reviewed in Goldstein and Walker, 2014;Hutchison and Rathore, 2015;Kahn et al., 2013;Pace-Schott, 2015;Palmer and Alfano, 2016;Tempesta et al.,”
From Physiological feelings (2019) · cites this paper as Goldstein and Walker, 2014
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“It is now well established that sleep is involved in the consolidation of memories, including emotional memories.9,10”
From Effects of Sleep after Experimental Trauma on Intrusive Emotional Memories. (2016) · cites this paper as [9]
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In the citing paper
“Our results are in line with studies and theoretical accounts proposing a role of sleep in the affective depotentiation of emotional memories.9,14,13,18,37”
From Effects of Sleep after Experimental Trauma on Intrusive Emotional Memories. (2016) · cites this paper as [9]
The cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“poor sleep is associated with symptoms of depression and anxiety (1–12)”
In the citing paper
“Healthy sleep is associated with normal emotion regulation [9, 10].”
From Sleep and REM sleep disturbance in the pathophysiology of PTSD: the role of extinction memory (2015) · cites this paper as [10]
In the citing paper
“And, as is the case for other forms of emotional memory [10], healthy sleep may be of ongoing, and cumulative importance in the consolidation of memory for both therapeutically induced and naturally learned extinction.”
From Sleep and REM sleep disturbance in the pathophysiology of PTSD: the role of extinction memory (2015) · cites this paper as [10]
In the citing paper
“Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is associated with consolidation of emotional memory (reviewed in [8–10]), and REM sleep has been suggested to be the stage of sleep during which emotion is regulated [75].”
From Sleep and REM sleep disturbance in the pathophysiology of PTSD: the role of extinction memory (2015) · cites this paper as [10]
In the citing paper
“Sleep disruption may lead to fatigue [244, 245], executive deficits [246, 247], mood dysregulation [10], and psychosocial impairments [248]”
From Sleep and REM sleep disturbance in the pathophysiology of PTSD: the role of extinction memory (2015) · cites this paper as [10]
In the citing paper
“Disturbed sleep and sleep loss have been consistently linked to increased negative affect in adults (Goldstein & Walker, 2014).”
From Sleep and circadian contributions to adolescent alcohol use disorder (2015) · cites this paper as Goldstein & Walker, 2014
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Citations
Cites
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Nowak, J., Dimitrov, A., Oei, N. Y. L., Walter, H., Adli, M., & Veer, I. M. (2020) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2020.104585 · Cited by 23
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“This is because nightmares represent a disruption in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, the sleep stage hypothesized to be most important for emotional processing and preparing for next day emotional challenges (Goldstein & Walker, 2014).”
BackgroundMobile sensor-based community gaming for improving vocational students’ sleep and academic outcomes
Wang, J.-S., Gamble, J. H., & Yang, Y.-T. C. (2020) · Computers & Education · doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2020.103812 · Cited by 19
Dijkstra, J. M., & Nagatsu, T. (2021) · Journal of Neural Transmission · doi:10.1007/s00702-021-02450-9 · Cited by 25
“At the neurocircuitry level, sleep has a function in consolidating important memories and to help forget unimportant memories (reviewed by Goldstein and Walker 2014).”
BackgroundInfluentialZhang, S., Yuan, Y., Zhuang, W., Xiong, T., Xu, Y., Zhang, J., Tao, C., Liang, J., & Wang, Y. (2022) · Frontiers in Neurology · doi:10.3389/fneur.2022.843055 · Cited by 20
“reported that there was a bidirectional and positive relationship between sleep and mood regulation (48, 49).”
BackgroundRolling, J., Rabot, J., Reynaud, È., Kolb, O., Bourgin, P., & Schroder, C. M. (2023) · Journal of Clinical Medicine · doi:10.3390/jcm12206570 · Cited by 20
“Clinically, this translates into deficits in emotional and physiological regulation and an increase in posttraumatic symptoms and sleep disturbances [57].”
BackgroundHeart–brain axis: Pushing the boundaries of cardiovascular molecular imaging
Khalil, M., Lau, H. C., Thackeray, J. T., Mikaïl, N., Gebhard, C., Quyyumi, A. A., Bengel, F. M., Bremner, J. D., Vaccarino, V., Tawakol, A., et al. (2024) · Journal of Nuclear Cardiology · doi:10.1016/j.nuclcard.2024.101870 · Cited by 19
Bolló, H., Kovács, K., Lefter, R. M., Gombos, F., Enikö Kubinyi, B., Topál, J., & Kis, A. (2020) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-020-67092-5 · Cited by 19
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“This pattern of activations, along with the aminergic downtoning occurring during REM sleep [9], and especially the downregulation of noradrenergic input from the locus coeruleus, which has been linked to states of high arousal and stress [10,11], are believed to provide optimal conditions for offline processing of em…”
BackgroundThe ‘affect tagging and consolidation’ (ATaC) model of depression vulnerability
Harrington, M. O., Pennington, K., & Durrant, S. J. (2017) · Neurobiology of Learning and Memory · doi:10.1016/j.nlm.2017.02.003 · Cited by 19
“These findings support the notion that REM sleep plays a selective role in the consolidation of negative emotional memories (Goldstein & Walker, 2014; Walker & van der Helm, 2009).”
The function of REM and NREM sleep on memory distortion and consolidation
Kaida, K., Mori, I., Kihara, K., & Kaida, N. (2023) · Neurobiology of Learning and Memory · doi:10.1016/j.nlm.2023.107811 · Cited by 22
Psychological state and its correlates of local college students in Wuhan during COVID‐19 pandemic
Liu, F., Dai, L., Cai, Y., Chen, X., Li, J., & Shi, L. (2022) · Psychology in the Schools · doi:10.1002/pits.22699 · Cited by 19
“According to Goldstein & Walker (2014), lack of sleep will lead to a series of emotional disorders by influencing the regulation of emotions.”
BackgroundAsymmetrical Effects of Sleep and Emotions in Daily Life
Newman, D. B., Epel, E. S., Coccia, M., Puterman, E. M., & Prather, A. A. (2022) · Affective Science · doi:10.1007/s42761-022-00112-x · Cited by 21
“Cross-sectional studies have shown that people who sleep more or better tend to experience more positive affect and less negative affect compared to poorer sleepers (Åkerstedt et al., 2002; Baglioni et al., 2010; Goldstein & Walker, 2014; Palmer & Alfano, 2017).”
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“This lack of safety learning generalizability can result in a “vicious cycle” where patients become trapped in the cyclic nature of worsening sleep exacerbating symptom presentation, while those same symptoms contribute to sleep disruption (Walker and van Der Helm, 2009; Goldstein and Walker, 2014; Pace-Schott et al.,…”
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Association of sleep complaints with all-cause and heart disease mortality among US adults
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“One tentative explanation could be that fear facilitates an adaptive response to fear through fear extinction, while sleep deprivation hampers the same process (52).”
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A REM-active basal ganglia circuit that regulates anxiety
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The brain, rapid eye movement sleep, and major depressive disorder: A multimodal neuroimaging study
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Sleep, emotional intelligence, and interpersonal effectiveness: Natural bedfellows.
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“Conversely, adequate amounts of highquality sleep in leaders could strengthen emotion regulation, enhancing overall leadership effectiveness (Goldstein & Walker, 2014; Ong et al., 2013).”
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Overnight sleep benefits both neutral and negative direct associative and relational memory
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“Sleep may facilitate stronger top-down prefrontal control of the amygdala, allowing for proper processing of emotional stimuli in the environment, whereas sleep loss would lead to increased impulsivity toward certain emotional stimuli 66 .”
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“The primary functions of sleep are to repair the brain; to mediate and reorganize emotions, behavior, cognition, and memories; and to regulate various crucial physiological functions in the body (Goldstein and Walker 2014).”
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“This effect may partially happen secondary to adjustment of the noradrenergic brainstem activities and the reactions of brain regions essential for emotion detection, such as the amygdala and medial prefrontal cortex [78].”
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“(3) Introduction of a brief problem-focused coping skill (∼10min).”
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“26 Given the relationship between sleep and these physiological pathways, 17 27 and that rising and sleeping later (evening chronotype) is associated with higher DRD, 28 self-compassion may also play an important role in sleep behaviors.”
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“Second, the role of REM sleep in modulating emotional memories shall be further investigated (45, 60, 61).”
The Effects of Sleep Quality on Dream and Waking Emotions
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“accompanied by the distinctive neurochemical balance occurring during REM sleep [7,8], is believed to provide optimal conditions for offline processing of emotional information.”
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“…it is likely that links between sleep, emotion regulation, self-control, and impulsivity play a role, as adults with poorer sleep are less able to utilize effective emotion regulation strategies or resist cravings to use (Goldstein & Walker, 2014; Paterson et al., 2011; Zvolensky et al., 2020).”
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Longitudinal Association of Sleep Problems and Distress Tolerance During Adolescence
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Key elements of an evidence-based clinical psychology service within adult critical care
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“For example, REM sleep performs an important role in the processing of recent emotive experiences and when REM sleep is lacking the strength of affect within an autobiographical memory network persists, resulting in the potential for psychological sequalae.(26) Furthermore, sleep disturbance occurring in the aftermath…”
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“Nightmares primarily occur during REM sleep, when the brain is hypothesized to be extracting and reducing the emotional content of memories for more useful gist-like storage [23].”
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“SleepasabehaviourisabsentfromEhlersandClark ’ s 24 model;however,itis proposed to have a role in the development and maintenance of PTSD 54,55 , particularly Rapid-Eye-Movement (REM) sleep 56 .”
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“…brain-activity patterns, simultaneous activation of the limbic regions, and the acetylcholine and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-mediated suppression of cortical arousal (Pace-Schott and Hobson, 2002), which is permissible also for offline processing of emotions (Goldstein and Walker, 2014).”
BackgroundSleep in child and adolescent psychiatry: overlooked and underappreciated
Tarokh, L., Hamann, C., & SCHIMMELMANN, B. G. (2014) · European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry · doi:10.1007/s00787-014-0554-7 · Cited by 15
“Numerous studies have shown the negative impact of an acute sleep restriction on mood [22], anxiety [23], attention [24], cognitive performance [24] and decision-making in otherwise healthy individuals.”
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Sleep Duration and Snoring at Midlife in Relation to Healthy Aging in Women 70 Years of Age or Older
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“Experimental evidence suggests that a good night sleep helps individuals regulate their emotions back to their baseline values [15].”
Heritability of REM sleep neurophysiology in adolescence
Markovic, A., Kaess, M., & Tarokh, L. (2022) · Translational Psychiatry · doi:10.1038/s41398-022-02106-6 · Cited by 16
“Goldstein and Walker [2] proposed the “REM sleep emotional homeostasis hypothesis” positing that not only are affective experiences consolidated during REM sleep but also that the emotional strength of negative memories is reduced, renormalizing the brain’s sensitivity to emotional stimuli.”
BackgroundThe implications of sleep disruption for cognitive and affective processing in methamphetamine abuse
Lipinska, G., Timol, R., & Thomas, K. G. F. (2015) · Medical Hypotheses · doi:10.1016/j.mehy.2015.09.010 · Cited by 16
An Initial Investigation of the Relationship Between Insomnia and Hoarding
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“This overactivity appears to trigger a state in which rewards are overvalued and losses are undervalued (Goldstein & Walker, 2014).”
BackgroundChen, C., & Nakagawa, S. (2018) · Challenges · doi:10.3390/challe9020041 · Cited by 18
“These include food systems and dietary patterns [7,8], physical activity levels [9,10], psychological stress [11,12], sleep [13,14], socioeconomic status [15] and disruption to the many microbial ecosystems that support human and environmental health [5].”
BackgroundLet there be blue-depleted light: in-patient dark therapy, circadian rhythms and length of stay
Scott, J. L., Langsrud, K., Goulding, I. R., & Kallestad, H. (2020) · BJPsych Advances · doi:10.1192/bja.2020.47 · Cited by 14
“Importantly, it has now been established that the interrelationship between light, sleep and health has an empirical biological basis (Czeisler 1999; Castro 2011; Goldstein 2014).”
Carruthers, S. P., Lee, S. J., Sankaranarayanan, A., Sumner, P. J., Toh, W. L., Tan, E. J., Neill, E., Rheenen, T. E. V., Gurvich, C., & Rossell, S. L. (2021) · Archives of Suicide Research · doi:10.1080/13811118.2021.1944412 · Cited by 16
“Sleep deprivation enhances sensitivity to aversive or pleasurable stimuli, partly through reducing connectivity between pre-frontal cortical regions and the amygdala, and can amplify anticipation of aversive and reward stimuli (Goldstein & Walker, 2014).”
BackgroundA brief nap during an acute stressor improves negative affect
Wofford, N., Ceballos, N., Elkins, G., & Westerberg, C. E. (2022) · Journal of Sleep Research · doi:10.1111/jsr.13701 · Cited by 12
“Regarding mental health, poor sleep quality is associated with increased symptoms of anxiety and depression, increased emotional reactivity and negative affect, and reductions in life satisfaction, whereas adequate sleep promotes adaptive emotional responding (Goldstein & Walker, 2014).”
Backgroundvan Trigt, S., van der Zweerde, T., Someren, E. J. W. V., van Straten, A., & van Marle, H. J. F. (2022) · Internet Interventions · doi:10.1016/j.invent.2022.100563 · Cited by 17
“A growing literature highlights the essential role of sleep in emotion regulation and emotional memory processing (Goldstein and Walker, 2014; Rasch and Born, 2013; van der Helm and Walker, 2011).”
BackgroundDaffre, C., Oliver, K. I., Nazareno, J. R. S., Mäder, T., Seo, J., Dominguez, J. P., Gannon, K., Lasko, N. B., Orr, S. P., & Pace-Schott, E. F. (2022) · Journal of Sleep Research · doi:10.1111/jsr.13685 · Cited by 16
“In both healthy and clinical populations, REM sleep has been linked with emotion regulatory processes (Goldstein & Walker, 2014; Walker & van der Helm, 2009).”
BackgroundSleep spindles, stress and PTSD: The state of the science and future directions
Natraj, N., & Richards, A. L. (2023) · Neurobiology of Stress · doi:10.1016/j.ynstr.2023.100516 · Cited by 15
“To date, the focus of such theories has been on REM sleep, and there has been some controversy (Baran et al., 2012; Goldstein and Walker 2014).”
Natraj, N., Neylan, T. C., Yack, L. M., Metzler, T. J., Woodward, S. H., Hubachek, S. Q., Dukes, C., Udupa, N. S., Mathalon, D. H., & Richards, A. L. (2023) · Biological Psychiatry Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging · doi:10.1016/j.bpsc.2023.02.007 · Cited by 15
Henry, A. L., Miller, C. B., Emsley, R., Sheaves, B., Freeman, D. H., Luik, A. I., & Espie, C. A. (2023) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2023.06.053 · Cited by 15
Mental health and sleep quality of low‐income mothers of one‐year‐olds during the COVID‐19 pandemic
Premo, E. M., Magnuson, K., Lorenzo, N. E., Fox, N. A., & Noble, K. G. (2023) · Infant Mental Health Journal · doi:10.1002/imhj.22074 · Cited by 15
Sleep facilitates consolidation of positive emotional memory in healthy older adults
Gui, W.-J., Wang, P., Lei, X., Lin, T., Horta, M., Liu, X., & Yu, J. (2018) · Memory · doi:10.1080/09658211.2018.1513038 · Cited by 16
“Post-encoding sleep adequately regulates emotion and provides restoration of appropriate emotion and selectively enhanced positive memories in both young and older adults (Goldstein & Walker, 2014).”
BackgroundMochón-Benguigui, S., Carneiro‐Barrera, A., Castillo, M. J., & Amaro‐Gahete, F. J. (2020) · Antioxidants · doi:10.3390/antiox9080738 · Cited by 15
“Accordingly, gathered evidence has also widely shown that sleep disturbances certainly lead to a vast number of age-related diseases [18], including obesity [19,20], cardiovascular disease [21], type II diabetes mellitus [22,23], chronic kidney disease [24], and psychiatric disorders [25].”
BackgroundPredatu, R., Voinescu, B., David, D. O., Maffei, A., Nechifor, R. E., & Gentili, C. (2022) · Sleep Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.sleep.2022.11.033 · Cited by 15
Prevalence and predictors of mood disturbances in idiopathic REM sleep behaviour disorder
Chiu, N. K. H., Martens, K. A. E., Mok, V., Lewis, S. J. G., & Matar, E. (2020) · Journal of Sleep Research · doi:10.1111/jsr.13040 · Cited by 17
“It has been proposed that REM sleep is important in processing affective information, with models implicating REM sleep in emotional memory resolution and recalibration (Goldstein & Walker, 2014).”
BackgroundJensen, C. D., Zaugg, K. K., Muncy, N. M., Allen, W., Blackburn, R. C., Duraccio, K. M., Barnett, K. A., Kirwan, C. B., & Jarcho, J. M. (2021) · SLEEP · doi:10.1093/sleep/zsab263 · Cited by 14
Sleep disturbance and suicide risk among sexual and gender minority people
Dolsen, E. A., Byers, A. L., Flentje, A., Goulet, J. L., Jasuja, G. K., Lynch, K. E., Maguen, S., & Neylan, T. C. (2022) · Neurobiology of Stress · doi:10.1016/j.ynstr.2022.100488 · Cited by 15
“, 2010), emotional (Goldstein and Walker, 2014; Palmer and Alfano, 2017; Walker, 2009), and cognitive functioning (Diekelmann and Born, 2010; PaceSchott et al.”
Associations Between ADHD, Sleep Problems, and Mental Health Symptoms in Adolescents
Loram, G., Ling, M., Silk, T. J., & Sciberras, E. (2023) · Journal of Attention Disorders · doi:10.1177/10870547231155871 · Cited by 15
“Sleep deficiency appears to be implicated in emotional regulation and processing, which is in turn linked to many common mental health difficulties (Goldstein & Walker, 2014).”
BackgroundREM disruption and REM vagal activity predict extinction recall in trauma-exposed individuals
Yüksel, Ç., Watford, L., Muranaka, M., Daffre, C., McCoy, E., Lax, H., Mendelsohn, A. K., Oliver, K. I., Acosta, A., Vidrin, A., et al. (2024) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291724002757 · Cited by 14
“Findings are also in agreement with the general notion that REM is involved in processing emotional memories (Goldstein & Walker, 2014), although this assertion is not consistently supported by experimental evidence (Davidson, Jonsson, Carlsson, & Pace-Schott, 2021).”
Long, Z., & Cheng, F. (2019) · Neuroreport · doi:10.1097/wnr.0000000000001347 · Cited by 14
Altered sleep behavior in a genetic mouse model of impaired fear extinction
Fritz, E. M., Kreuzer, M., Altunkaya, A., Singewald, N., & Fenzl, T. (2021) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-021-88475-2 · Cited by 17
Bethea, T. N., Zhai, W., Zhou, X., Ahles, T. A., Ahn, J., Cohen, H. J., Dilawari, A. A., Graham, D. M. A., Jim, H., McDonald, B. C., et al. (2022) · Cancer Medicine · doi:10.1002/cam4.4682 · Cited by 12
Bidirectional Association Between E-Cigarette Use and Depression: A Meta-Analysis
Ji, S., Chen, L., Zhuang, S., Wei, L., Gou, L., Shi, C., Jia, H., & Chen, X. (2025) · Nicotine & Tobacco Research · doi:10.1093/ntr/ntaf163 · Cited by 13
Li, D.-R., Li, Z.-X., Li, M., Liu, B.-Q., Fang, Q., Liu, J.-C., Zheng, W.-R., Gong, T., Gao, S., & Wu, Q. (2025) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291725101281 · Cited by 19
“Neuroimaging studies have shown that even acute sleep disruption can enhance amygdala reactivity to negative stimuli while reducing functional connectivity with prefrontal regions that modulate emotional responses (Goldstein & Walker, 2014; Krause et al., 2017).”
Göder, R., Bares, S., Vogel, C., Böttcher, H., Drews, H. J., Lechinger, J., Jauch‐Chara, K., & Weinhold, S. L. (2020) · Sleep Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.sleep.2020.04.015 · Cited by 13
Sleep during travel balances individual sleep needs
Jonasdottir, S. S., Bagrow, J. P., & Lehmann, S. (2022) · Nature Human Behaviour · doi:10.1038/s41562-022-01291-0 · Cited by 13
Cross-Lagged Analyses of Prolonged Grief and Depression Symptoms With Insomnia Symptoms.
de Lang, T. A., Buyukcan-Tetik, A., de Jong, P., Lancel, M., & Eisma, M. (2022) · The Behavior Therapist · doi:10.1016/j.beth.2022.12.004 · Cited by 13
Messman, B., Fentem, A., Compton, S. E., Griffith, E. L., Blumenthal, H., Contractor, A. A., & Slavish, D. C. (2023) · Sleep Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.sleep.2023.08.025 · Cited by 14
Haghi, M., Madrid, N. M., & Seepold, R. (2024) · IEEE Sensors Journal · doi:10.1109/jsen.2024.3370819 · Cited by 13
“S LEEP is a fundamental physiological process that is not just a passive state but an active period essential for physical repair, cognitive maintenance, and emotional balance [1], [2].”
BackgroundThe role of objective sleep in implicit and explicit affect regulation: A comprehensive review
Straus, L. D., ten Brink, M., Sikka, P., Srivastava, R., Gross, J. J., & Colvonen, P. J. (2024) · Neurobiology of Stress · doi:10.1016/j.ynstr.2024.100655 · Cited by 15
“In the last decade, research has increasingly focused on understanding the role of REM sleep in adaptive affect regulation (Goldstein and Walker, 2014; Gruber and Cassoff, 2014; Guarana et al., 2021).”
BackgroundSleep and Neuroaffective Development from Early to Late Adolescence
Baker, A. E., & McMakin, D. L. (2024) · Annual Review of Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev-devpsych-010923-093914 · Cited by 13
Perceived stress mediates the longitudinal effect of sleep quality on internalizing symptoms
Meng, R., Xu, J., Luo, Y., Mastrotheodoros, S., Jiang, C., Garofalo, C., Mazzeschi, C., Nielsen, T., Fong, D., Dzierzewski, J. M., et al. (2024) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2024.12.046 · Cited by 16
The Sleep Opportunity, Need and Ability ( SONA ) Theory
Scott, H., & Perlis, M. L. (2025) · Journal of Sleep Research · doi:10.1111/jsr.70030 · Cited by 13
“…memory consolidation, tissue repair, glucose homeostasis, enhancement of innate and adaptive immunity, neural reorganisation, and central nervous system waste clearance (Zielinski et al. 2016; Frank 2006; Schmidt et al. 2017; Jessen et al. 2015; Goldstein and Walker 2014; Asif et al. 2017).”
Blackham, A. L., McDaniel, J. R., Chauvin, I., Nelson, K. L., & Buboltz, W. C. (2019) · doi:10.36959/532/321 · Cited by 14
Sleep, inflammation, and perception of sad facial emotion: A laboratory-based study in older adults
Piber, D., Eisenberger, N. I., Olmstead, R., Cho, H. J., Breen, E. C., Boyle, C. C., Karmarkar, E. N., Guzman, M., Kim, H., & Irwin, M. R. (2020) · Brain Behavior and Immunity · doi:10.1016/j.bbi.2020.06.011 · Cited by 13
Hendrickson, R. C., Millard, S. P., Pagulayan, K. F., Peskind, E. R., & Raskind, M. A. (2021) · Chronic Stress · doi:10.1177/2470547020979780 · Cited by 13
“The pattern of the largest efficacy being spread between the hyperarousal cluster and particularly the nightmare item of the re-experiencing cluster is potentially consistent with preclinical findings connecting increased noradrenergic activity and hyperarousal symptoms,(9,10) as well as empirical and basic science fi…”
ResultKorenic, S. A., Ered, A., Pierce, K. M., Calvo, E. M., Olino, T. M., Murty, V. P., & Ellman, L. M. (2021) · Journal of Psychiatric Research · doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2021.08.023 · Cited by 13
Associations Between Intraindividual Variability in Sleep and Daily Positive Affect
Ying, F., Wen, J., Klaiber, P., DeLongis, A., Slavish, D. C., & Sin, N. L. (2021) · Affective Science · doi:10.1007/s42761-021-00082-6 · Cited by 12
“Neurobiological research has found that rapid eye movement (REM) sleep may be particularly important for promoting appropriate emotional reactivity (Goldstein & Walker, 2014).”
BackgroundInsufficient Sleep Syndrome: A Blind Spot in Our Vision of Healthy Sleep
Mader, E. C., Mader, A. C. L., & Singh, P. (2022) · Cureus · doi:10.7759/cureus.30928 · Cited by 13
“CSD decreases vigilance and disrupts other cognitive functions, leading to delayed reaction time, degraded motor performance, lower stress tolerance, anxiety, and impaired judgment [4,13,14].”
BackgroundSchenker, M. T., Ince, S., Ney, L. J., Hsu, C.-M. K., Zuj, D. V., Jordan, A. S., Nicholas, C. L., & Felmingham, K. L. (2022) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.brat.2022.104222 · Cited by 14
The Impact of Sleep on Fear Extinction
Bottary, R. M., Straus, L. D., & Pace-Schott, E. F. (2023) · Current topics in behavioral neurosciences · doi:10.1007/7854_2023_431 · Cited by 15
Sin, N. L., Rush, J., Buxton, O. M., & Almeida, D. M. (2021) · Annals of Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1093/abm/kaab018 · Cited by 14
“Short sleep duration and sleep disorders (namely, insomnia) are also robustly linked with emotions [6, 7] and are associated with greater prospective risks for affective disorders [8, 9].”
BackgroundO'Regan, D. J., Poole, N. A., Otaiku, A. I., Jackson, M. L., & Rosenzweig, I. (2025) · Current Treatment Options in Neurology · doi:10.1007/s11940-025-00847-5 · Cited by 14
“Elevated REM pressure may impair emotional memory extinction and promote ruminative thought patterns, perpetuating low mood [ 50, 63].”
InfluentialThe how and why of sleep: Motor theory and catecholamine hypothesis
Ma, C., & Dan, Y. (2025) · Neuron · doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2025.08.017 · Cited by 13
Abojedi, A., Ali, A. S. S. A., & Basmaji, J. (2023) · Health Psychology Research · doi:10.52965/001c.73348 · Cited by 13
Metadata
- Authors
- Goldstein, A. N., & Walker, M. P.
- Affiliations
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-1650;
- University of California, Berkeley (US)
- ORCID
- Walker, Matthew P.
- Venue
- Annual Review of Clinical Psychology
- Publisher
- Annual Reviews
- Published
- 2014-03-28
- Volume
- 10
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 679-708
- ISSN
- 1548-5943 (ISSN-L)
- 1548-5951
- PMC
- PMC4286245
- OpenAlex
- W2120192703
- Cited by
- 1,052
- References
- 151
- Citations by year
- 2026: 139 · 2025: 155 · 2024: 113 · 2023: 101 · 2022: 134 · 2021: 88 · 2020: 81 · 2019: 71 · 2018: 52 · 2017: 35 · 2016: 36 · 2015: 36 · 2014: 7
- FWCI
- 3.68
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Annual Review of Clinical Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health
- National Institute on Aging (R01AG031164)
- National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH093537, F31MH094075)
- National Institute on Drug Abuse (R21DA031939)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Sleep and Wakefulness Research
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Sleep and related disorders
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Sleep and Work-Related Fatigue
- Keywords
- sleep, REM sleep, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, sleep deprivation, post-traumatic stress disorder, major depressive disorder
- MeSH terms
- Anxiety Disorders, Mental Disorders, Major Depressive Disorder, Humans, Sleep, Sleep Wake Disorders, Sleep, REM, Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic, Mood Disorders
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