Trump might be going crazy from sleep deprivation, neurologist says

Sleep deprivation is being nicknamed &quot;Trump syndrome.&quot;

(Image credit: iStock)

published 17 October 2016

We've all been there: The desperate quadruple-shot latte used to get us through the morning after a late night out or perhaps a plain old bout of 3 a.m. insomnia. Scientists know that a lack of sleep can lead to irrational behavior, and at least one group of neurologists has taken to nicknaming such sleep-deprivation symptoms "Trump Syndrome," Scientific American reports. And you never know: You might be suffering from Trump Syndrome yourself.

Trump, for one, has bragged about his ability to get by on "three hours, four hours" of sleep, something the American public learned after a bizarre late-night Twitter session a few weeks back. Daniel Barron, a resident physician at Yale University, broke it down for Scientific American:

Brain regions associated with judgment, memory, and emotion are the most strongly affected by sleep deprivation. It's as if sleep deprivation slows our cognitive machine to a grind and — as the researchers showed — sleep allows brain networks to reset to their healthy rhythms.It's easy to cite studies that sleep deprivation deteriorates memory consolidation, reaction time, the ability to think creatively, and even recognize another's emotions.Sleep deprivation also has subtle effects, like shifting our economic preference from defending against losses to seeking increased gain; shifting the art of any deal towards aggression, away from balanced thought. [Scientific American]

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.