How stress affects saving, spending habits

November 14, 2016
Science Daily/Rutgers University
Stress leads consumers to save money in general but spend strategically on products they believe are essential, new research conclude

Feeling overwhelmed? Stressed about work, a family illness or election season? It turns out that worry and anxiety can have an impact on your wallet.

"Stress leads consumers to favor saving money," says Kristina Durante, an associate professor of marketing at Rutgers Business School who researches the effect of hormones and consumer behavior. Although stressed consumers want to save, when faced with a spending decision, stressed consumers will pay for necessities they think will help restore control rather than splurge on non-necessities.

In a study published in the Journal of Marketing Research in October, Durante and Juliano Laran at University of Miami find that stress leads consumers to save money in general but spend strategically on products they believe are essential.

In several experiments, Durante and Laran created stressful situations for participants, including leading them to believe they would give presentations in front of judges and directing others to write about a stressful time in their lives. Faced with the stress alone, most say they wanted to save more money.

Durante says the body reacts to stressful challenges with an increase in the hormone cortisol, which leads us to focus our attention toward the threat so that we can attempt to overcome it or alleviate it. "People lock down and enter survival mode and protect resources as a means to ensure survival," she says.

When researchers tasked stressed participants with making a decision about how to spend up to $250 -- one group on everyday products and necessary household goods, the other on non-necessities including entertainment goods -- the group buying items deemed necessary spent more money. Neither group spent all of the $250.

In another experiment, researchers restored a sense of control for one group before asking them about spending money by having them write about an instance in their life where their actions led to a good outcome. That group spent more money on purchases.

"What we found was for those with momentary levels of acute stress who then go and make a decision about how to spend their money, they want to save their money," Durante says. "But for those who were stressed out and then had their sense of control restored, we found they were more willing to spend their money."

The roots of the stress matter. People who said they were stressed about a current job situation, for example, were less likely to spend money on clothes, while others stressed about starting a new job were more likely to spend money on new clothes because they perceived the purchases as helping alleviate new-job stress."What people feel is a necessity shifts depending on what kind of stress they have," Durante says.

Having some control versus no control seems to affect the buying decisions people make when they are stressed, she says. "You can have situations where stress and a high level of control can improve your performance, like it does for elite athletes. But if you have a high level of stress and a low level of control, that's when our cognitive efforts can get impaired and we want to save."

The implications for marketers are many, Durante says. When there are unpredictable situations -- extreme weather, elections -- consumers may be more open to products that are framed as necessities or those that can restore control, she says.

For consumers, the findings can help people be aware of how they react when they are stressed and making buying decisions.

"When humans are stressed, we still have to go out and about," Durante says. "We have a lot of consumers out there who are stressed and are faced with decisions about what to purchase."

Stress is unavoidable in life, yet research on how stressful situations affect how people make spending decisions as levels of the stress hormone cortisol are rising is limited and the findings mixed, Durante says. This research, she notes, is a start.

"Not a lot of research has been done on stress and spending," Durante says. "It's so nuanced because different people respond in different ways." The researchers are in the midst of a follow-up study on how consumers engage with products during a stressful time.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/11/161114115346.htm

Study explores how immune system functions during sleep

November 15, 2016
Science Daily/American Physiological Society (APS)
Researchers have found new insights into sleep’s importance to overall health: it may give the immune system a chance to regroup at a time when the relative risk of infection is low. As the foundation of the human body’s immune system, large quantities of T cells—a type of white blood cell—are present in the bloodstream and are ready to attack viruses and other pathogens that invade the body.

T cells are a type of white blood cells and are the foundation of the human body's immune system. Large quantities of T cells are present in the bloodstream and are ready to attack viruses and other pathogens that invade the body. Even during a deep resting phase, the body is able to release T cells, growth hormones and epinephrine back into circulation to fight pathogens when needed. Researchers conducted a "sleep-wake" study to determine how lack of sleep affects the immune system.

Fourteen young male volunteers with an average age of 25 participated in two 24-hour (8 p.m. to 8 p.m.) studies. In one study, the volunteers were allowed to sleep between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. During the other study, the men were kept awake for 24 hours. Blood samples were taken from each volunteer at varying intervals (90 minutes to three hours) throughout each 24-hour period.

Among the sleeping group, all measured T cell subsets were reduced within three hours of falling asleep. However, T cell numbers remained high in subjects who were not allowed to sleep. While the research showed that the T cells left the bloodstream, where they went is a mystery. "It is an unsolved question as to where the cells are redistributed during sleep since we cannot follow their migratory route in healthy humans. … There are some hints from previous studies that these cells accumulate in lymph nodes during sleep," the researchers wrote.

The rapid drop in circulating T cells during sleep "show[s] that even one night without sleep affects the adaptive immune system," says first author Luciana Besedovsky. "This … might be one reason why regular sleep is so important for general health."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/11/161115132547.htm

This is your brain on God: Spiritual experiences activate brain reward circuits

November 29, 2016
Science Daily/University of Utah Health Sciences
Religious and spiritual experiences activate the brain reward circuits in much the same way as love, sex, gambling, drugs and music, report researchers.
https://images.sciencedaily.com/2016/11/161129085014_1_540x360.jpg
An fMRI scan shows regions of the brain that become active when devoutly religious study participants have a spiritual experience, including a reward center in the brain, the nucleus accumbens.
Credit: Jeffrey Anderson

"We're just beginning to understand how the brain participates in experiences that believers interpret as spiritual, divine or transcendent," says senior author and neuroradiologist Jeff Anderson. "In the last few years, brain imaging technologies have matured in ways that are letting us approach questions that have been around for millennia."

Specifically, the investigators set out to determine which brain networks are involved in representing spiritual feelings in one group, devout Mormons, by creating an environment that triggered participants to "feel the Spirit." Identifying this feeling of peace and closeness with God in oneself and others is a critically important part of Mormons' lives -- they make decisions based on these feelings; treat them as confirmation of doctrinal principles; and view them as a primary means of communication with the divine.

During fMRI scans, 19 young-adult church members -- including seven females and 12 males -- performed four tasks in response to content meant to evoke spiritual feelings. The hour-long exam included six minutes of rest; six minutes of audiovisual control (a video detailing their church's membership statistics); eight minutes of quotations by Mormon and world religious leaders; eight minutes of reading familiar passages from the Book of Mormon; 12 minutes of audiovisual stimuli (church-produced video of family and Biblical scenes, and other religiously evocative content); and another eight minutes of quotations.

During the initial quotations portion of the exam, participants -- each a former full-time missionary -- were shown a series of quotes, each followed by the question "Are you feeling the spirit?" Participants responded with answers ranging from "not feeling" to "very strongly feeling."

Researchers collected detailed assessments of the feelings of participants, who, almost universally, reported experiencing the kinds of feelings typical of an intense worship service. They described feelings of peace and physical sensations of warmth. Many were in tears by the end of the scan. In one experiment, participants pushed a button when they felt a peak spiritual feeling while watching church-produced stimuli.

"When our study participants were instructed to think about a savior, about being with their families for eternity, about their heavenly rewards, their brains and bodies physically responded," says lead author Michael Ferguson, who carried out the study as a bioengineering graduate student at the University of Utah.

Based on fMRI scans, the researchers found that powerful spiritual feelings were reproducibly associated with activation in the nucleus accumbens, a critical brain region for processing reward. Peak activity occurred about 1-3 seconds before participants pushed the button and was replicated in each of the four tasks. As participants were experiencing peak feelings, their hearts beat faster and their breathing deepened.

In addition to the brain's reward circuits, the researchers found that spiritual feelings were associated with the medial prefrontal cortex, which is a complex brain region that is activated by tasks involving valuation, judgment and moral reasoning. Spiritual feelings also activated brain regions associated with focused attention.

"Religious experience is perhaps the most influential part of how people make decisions that affect all of us, for good and for ill. Understanding what happens in the brain to contribute to those decisions is really important," says Anderson, noting that we don't yet know if believers of other religions would respond the same way. Work by others suggests that the brain responds quite differently to meditative and contemplative practices characteristic of some eastern religions, but so far little is known about the neuroscience of western spiritual practices.

The study is the first initiative of the Religious Brain Project, launched by a group of University of Utah researchers in 2014, which aims to understand how the brain operates in people with deep spiritual and religious beliefs.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/11/161129085014.htm

It's all in the eyes: Women and men really do see things differently

November 28, 2016
Science Daily/University of Queen Mary London
Women and men look at faces and absorb visual information in different ways, which suggests there is a gender difference in understanding visual cues, according to a team of scientists.
https://images.sciencedaily.com/2016/11/161128121211_1_540x360.jpg
This study is the first demonstration of a clear gender difference in how men and women look at faces.
Credit: © puhhha / Fotolia

The researchers used an eye tracking device on almost 500 participants at the Science Museum over a five-week period to monitor and judge how much eye contact they felt comfortable with while looking at a face on a computer screen.

They found that women looked more at the left-hand side of faces and had a strong left eye bias, but that they also explored the face much more than men. The team observed that it was possible to tell the gender of the participant based on the scanning pattern of how they looked at the face with nearly 80 per cent accuracy. Given the very large sample size the researchers suggest this is not due to chance.

Lead author Dr Antoine Coutrot from QMUL's School of Biological and Chemical Sciences said: "This study is the first demonstration of a clear gender difference in how men and women look at faces.

"We are able to establish the gender of the participant based on how they scan the actors' face, and can eliminate that it isn't based on the culture of the participant as nearly 60 nationalities have been tested. We can also eliminate any other observable characteristics like perceived attractiveness or trustworthiness."

The participants were asked to judge how comfortable the amount of eye contact they made with the actor in a Skype-like scenario. Each participant saw the same actor (there were eight in total) during the testing period, which was around 15 minutes. At the end of the session the researchers collected personality information about the participants through questionnaires.

Co-author Dr Isabelle Mareschal also from QMUL's School of Biological and Chemical Sciences added: "There are numerous claims in popular culture that women and men look at things differently -- this is the first demonstration, using eye tracking, to support this claim that they take in visual information in different ways."

The team describe their findings in the Journal of Vision and suggest the gender difference in scanning visual information might impact many research fields, such as autism diagnosis or even everyday behaviours like watching a movie or looking at the road while driving.

The research was funded by the Leverhulme Trust and EPSRC and involved researchers from University College London and University of Nottingham.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/11/161128121211.htm

Can creativity beat death? New study suggests creatives worry less about dying

December 1, 2016
Science Daily/University of Kent
Creative people, such as newly-announced Nobel Prize for Literature winner Bob Dylan, are often thought to be motivated by the desire to leave an enduring cultural legacy. Through their creative work, creatives such as Leonard Cohen and David Bowie continue to live on in our culture even after passing away.
https://images.sciencedaily.com/2016/12/161201114420_1_540x360.jpg
The findings of this study suggest that those who pursue creativity and produce significant creative contributions may benefit from existential security in the face of death.
Credit: © murika / Fotolia

Creative achievement can provide a buffer against being anxious about death, research from psychologists at the University of Kent shows.

Creative people, such as newly-announced Nobel Prize for Literature winner Bob Dylan, are often thought to be motivated by the desire to leave an enduring cultural legacy. Through their creative work, creatives such as Leonard Cohen and David Bowie continue to live on in our culture even after passing away.

Conversely, the destruction of ancient monuments and artefacts in Iraq in 2015 by members of Islamic State could be interpreted as a symbolic act aimed at achieving high negative impact on society through the destruction of a cultural legacy.

Now research, conducted by Rotem Perach, a postgraduate researcher at Kent's School of Psychology under the supervision of Dr Arnaud Wisman, shows that those with high levels of creative ambition and achievement are particularly likely to be more resilient to death concerns.

In what is thought to be the first empirical study of the anxiety-buffering functions of creativity among people for whom creativity constitutes a central part of their cultural worldview, the research analysed findings from a group of 108 students.

The students completed two questionnaires to gauge their level of creative achievement and creative ambition. Those with a record of creative achievement, coupled to high levels of creative ambition, were found to make less death associations in their thought processes after thinking about their own demise in comparison to those in the control condition.

In comparison, among those with low levels of creative ambition -- whatever their record of creative achievement -- thinking about their own mortality did not affect their levels of death-thought accessibility in comparison to controls.

The findings suggest that those who pursue creativity and produce significant creative contributions may benefit from existential security in the face of death.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/12/161201114420.htm

Psychological well-being and physical activity in older adults

December 2, 2016
Science Daily/Chapman University
New findings showed associations between psychological well-being and physical activity in adults ages 50 and older.

"Researchers have long studied how physical activity can lead to improved mood and feelings of well-being," says Julia Boehm, Ph.D., and lead author on the study, "however, less well understood is whether being happy and optimistic might actually encourage a person to be physically active."

Physical activity is a key health behavior linked to better physical and mental functioning, as well as reduced risk of the leading causes of death including cancer and heart disease. Further, psychological well-being is associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, cognitive decline, and mortality. Psychological well-being may be linked with improved health because happier people may be more likely to engage in physical activity.

Rates of physical activity are relatively low among middle-aged adults and decline further in older adulthood -- worsening substantially after age 75 -- so a key challenge is to identify not only modifiable factors that reduce the likelihood of declining activity levels, but also factors that contribute to the initiation and maintenance of physical activity in older age. Interventions that increase the number of people who are physically active may reduce the burden of poor health later in life.

"What we wanted to do in this study was to assess psychological well-being before assessing physical activity to determine if happier adults are more likely to exercise than their less happy peers," said Dr. Boehm.

During the 11-year study, participants were asked about the frequency and intensity of their physical activity both at work and during leisure time and then classified into categories of sedentary activity, low activity, moderate activity, and high activity.

The researchers found that higher psychological well-being at the start of the study was associated with greater levels of physical activity across more than a decade. Moreover, people at the start of the study who had high levels of psychological well-being and who were also physically active initially were less likely to become inactive over time.

"These findings have implications for health care as medical professionals often have difficulty persuading adults to increase physical activity," noted Dr. Boehm. "Results from this study suggest that higher levels of psychological well-being may precede increased physical activity; therefore, it is possible that psychological well-being could be a novel way of not only enhancing psychological health but also increasing physical activity -- which in turn could improve the physical health of a large segment of people in an aging society."

The study included 9,986 English adults over the age of 50 who were assessed up to six times across an average of 11 years. The average age of participants was 63.7 years, with 55 percent of participants being women, and 97 percent of the sample identifying as White.

The paper, called Maintaining Healthy Behavior: a Prospective Study of Psychological Well-Being and Physical Activity, is published in the journal Annals of Behavioral Medicine. Authors were: Dr. Julia Boehm of Chapman University; Eric Kim, Ph.D., Laura Kubzansky, Ph.D, and Jackie Soo, Ph.D., all of Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/12/161202101114.htm

Stress-hormone differences identified among gay men

December 3, 2016
Science Daily/New York University
Increased stigma and discrimination can affect circadian HPA-axis functioning, say researchers. The majority of previous studies have been conducted among white heterosexuals, with very little research examining HPA-axis functioning between different minorities. Individuals who identify as both sexual and racial minorities may experience increased stigma and discrimination that can affect this HPA-axis functioning. Now, researchers have examined differences in diurnal cortisol rhythm between young, self-identified, white gay men and black gay men.

Cortisol is a life sustaining adrenal hormone essential to maintaining the natural balance of the body. It is often referred to as "the stress hormone," as cortisol influences, regulates, and modulates many of the changes that occur in the body in response to stress.

Diurnal cortisol studies measure the level of cortisol in the body at various times during the day to examine possible adrenal imbalances. The majority of these diurnal cortisol studies have been conducted among white heterosexuals, with very little research examining HPA-axis functioning between different minorities. However, individuals who identify as both sexual and racial minorities may experience increased stigma and discrimination that can affect this HPA-axis functioning.

To address this need for more expansive research, investigators at the College of Global Public Health (CGPH) Center for Health Identity Behavior & Prevention Studies (CHIBPS), led by Stephanie H. Cook, DrPH, conducted a study, "Cortisol profiles differ by race/ethnicity among young sexual minority men" published in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology, examining differences in diurnal cortisol rhythm between young, self-identified, white gay men (WGM) and black gay men (BGM).

In the study of healthy men (n=68) with a mean age of twenty-three, Dr. Cook and colleagues utilized a daily diary research design which consisted of researchers collecting four saliva samples daily for five days to measure their cortisol levels at different times of day throughout the week.

"Sexual minorities are more likely to experience discrimination based on their sexual orientation compared to heterosexual individuals," said Dr. Cook. "Recent research shows that sexual orientation-related stress and stigma can modulate HPA-axis reactivity among sexual minority individuals compared to heterosexual individuals."

The research data showed a flattened diurnal cortisol curve between BGM to WGM, with statistically significant differences found in bedtime levels of cortisol. In the current study, the observed flattened diurnal pattern observed among BGM combined with their elevated evening levels suggests less daily variation in cortisol that may be indicative of an unhealthy stress response among BGM.

While beyond the scope of the current analysis, these findings suggest that social factors associated with being a 'double minority' may differentially calibrate circadian HPA-axis functioning in BGM compared to WGM.

"We must conduct additional studies to confirm these study findings because in the current study we cannot make definitive conclusions about our 'double minority' hypothesis because we did not have a majority Black referent group," cautions Dr. Cook. "However, with this being said, we believe this research study presents a first step in understanding differences in the HAP axis functioning among racial/ethnic and sexual minority men."

The current study expands on previous research indicating that those individuals at the intersection of multiple stigmatized identities may indeed experience distinct diurnal cortisol profiles which should be explored further.

"The results of the present study expand health disparities research that has often focused solely on race/ethnic differences by using approaches that assess intersecting identities, which is the cornerstone of the work we undertake at CHIBPS," said Dr. Cook. "This study highlights these disparities and calls for further research on these topics."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/12/161203154538.htm

Short-term sleep deprivation affects heart function

December 2, 2016
Science Daily/Radiological Society of North America
Too little sleep takes a toll on your heart, according to a new study to be presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

People who work in fire and emergency medical services, medical residencies and other high-stress jobs are often called upon to work 24-hour shifts with little opportunity for sleep. While it is known that extreme fatigue can affect many physical, cognitive and emotional processes, this is the first study to examine how working a 24-hour shift specifically affects cardiac function.

"For the first time, we have shown that short-term sleep deprivation in the context of 24-hour shifts can lead to a significant increase in cardiac contractility, blood pressure and heart rate," said study author Daniel Kuetting, M.D., from the Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology at the University of Bonn in Bonn, Germany.

For the study, Dr. Kuetting and colleagues recruited 20 healthy radiologists, including 19 men and one woman, with a mean age of 31.6 years. Each of the study participants underwent cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging with strain analysis before and after a 24-hour shift with an average of three hours of sleep.

"Cardiac function in the context of sleep deprivation has not previously been investigated with CMR strain analysis, the most sensitive parameter of cardiac contractility," Dr. Kuetting said.

The researchers also collected blood and urine samples from the participants and measured blood pressure and heart rate.

Following short-term sleep deprivation, the participants showed significant increases in mean peak systolic strain (pre = -21.9; post = -23.4), systolic (112.8; 118.5) and diastolic (62.9; 69.2) blood pressure and heart rate (63.0; 68.9). In addition, the participants had significant increases in levels of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), thyroid hormones FT3 and FT4, and cortisol, a hormone released by the body in response to stress.

Although the researchers were able to perform follow-up examinations on half of the participants after regular sleep, Dr. Kuetting notes that further study in a larger cohort is needed to determine possible long-term effects of sleep loss.

"The study was designed to investigate real-life work-related sleep deprivation," Dr. Kuetting said. "While the participants were not permitted to consume caffeine or food and beverages containing theobromine, such as chocolate, nuts or tea, we did not take into account factors like individual stress level or environmental stimuli."

As people continue to work longer hours or work at more than one job to make ends meet, it is critical to investigate the detrimental effects of too much work and not enough sleep. Dr. Kuetting believes the results of this pilot study are transferable to other professions in which long periods of uninterrupted labor are common.

"These findings may help us better understand how workload and shift duration affect public health," he said.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/12/161202100943.htm

Avoiding spiritual struggles and existential questions is linked with poorer mental health

December 5, 2016

Science Daily/Case Western Reserve University

Fear of confronting the tensions and conflicts brought on by existential concerns—the “big questions” of life—is linked with poorer mental health, including higher levels of depression, anxiety and difficulty regulating emotions, according to a new study.

"Religious and spiritual struggles -- conflicts with God or religious people, tough questions about faith, morality, and the meaning of life -- these are often taboo topics, and the temptation to push them away is strong," said Julie Exline, professor of psychological sciences at Case Western Reserve and co-author of the research.

"When people avoid these struggles, anxiety and depression tend to be more intense than if they faced these struggles head-on."

People who more fully embrace these struggles with fundamental beliefs and values report better mental health than those who don't, Exline added.

The study, based on a survey of 307 adults about recent life experiences, was published in the Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science.

Among the study's findings:

An unwillingness to accept spiritual struggle could contribute to major social ills, leading to lost opportunities to engage with people of different faith beliefs and backgrounds and come to view them as threatening.

"This avoidance may lead to the rejection of whole groups of people based on their religious differences or perceived incongruence between, for example, their sexuality or gender-based identity and religious teachings," Exline said.

Mental health providers may find it useful to help clients with spiritual struggles face their difficulties in a more proactive way.

"People seem to be more emotionally healthy if they're able to accept troubling thoughts," Exline said. "Looking at spiritual doubts in an objective way seems to help. You may or may not work through them, but at least you can tolerate having them."

Avoidance itself is not a problem; rather, the behavior can become problematic when escaping becomes harmful or contrary to personal goals and sets a rigid pattern of experiencing and responding to the world.

"Regular spiritual avoidance can make it difficult to identify, work toward or experience the qualities that lend a sense of purpose to life," she said.

Using emotional and cognitive energy to push thoughts away will not stop them from continuing to intrude over time.

"Continually being re-visited by these thoughts can create strains on emotional health, especially if a person sees this kind of questioning as morally unacceptable and dangerous," Exline said.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/12/161205111017.htm

Direct link between REM sleep loss, desire for sugary and fatty foods discovered

December 6, 2016

Science Daily/University of Tsukuba

A new method has been used by researchers to produce REM sleep loss in mice along with a chemical-genetic technique to block prefrontal cortex neurons and the behaviors they mediate. As a result, the researchers discovered that inhibiting these neurons reversed the effect of REM sleep loss on sucrose consumption while having no effect on fat consumption.

https://images.sciencedaily.com/2016/12/161206110327_1_540x360.jpg

The medial prefrontal cortex may play a direct role in controlling our desire to consume weight promoting foods, high in sucrose content, when we are lacking sleep.

Credit: © iuricazac / Fotolia

It is not well understood what role sleep loss plays in affecting areas of the brain that control the desire to consume unhealthy foods. A new paper published on December 6 in the journal eLife finds that rapid eye movement (REM) sleep loss leads to increased consumption of unhealthy foods, specifically sucrose and fat. The researchers at the University of Tsukuba's International Institute for Integrative Sleep Medicine (IIIS) used a new method to produce REM sleep loss in mice along with a chemical-genetic technique to block prefrontal cortex neurons and the behaviors they mediate. As a result, the IIIS researchers discovered that inhibiting these neurons reversed the effect of REM sleep loss on sucrose consumption while having no effect on fat consumption.

REM sleep is a unique phase of sleep in mammals that is closely associated with dreaming and characterized by random eye movement and almost complete paralysis of the body. The prefrontal cortex plays a role in judging the palatability of foods through taste, smell and texture. Moreover, persons who are obese tend to have increased activity in the prefrontal cortex when exposed to high calorie foods. "Our results suggest that the medial prefrontal cortex may play a direct role in controlling our desire to consume weight promoting foods, high in sucrose content, when we are lacking sleep," says Kristoph

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/12/161206110327.htm

Missing 1-2 hours of sleep doubles crash risk Study reveals the dangers of getting less than 7 hours of sleep

December 6, 2016
Science Daily/AAA
Drivers who miss one to two hours of sleep nearly double their risk for a crash, new research concludes. Drivers who sleep slightly less -- between four and five hours -- have the same risk of crashing that is associated with driving over the legal limit for alcohol.
https://images.sciencedaily.com/2016/12/161206110235_1_540x360.jpg
Drivers missing 2-3 hours of sleep in a 24-hour period more than quadrupled their risk of a crash compared to drivers getting the recommended seven hours of sleep. This is the same crash risk the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration associates with driving over the legal limit for alcohol.
Credit: AAA

"You cannot miss sleep and still expect to be able to safely function behind the wheel," said Dr. David Yang, executive director for the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. "Our new research shows that a driver who has slept for less than five hours has a crash risk comparable to someone driving drunk."

The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety's report, Acute Sleep Deprivation and Risk of Motor Vehicle Crash Involvement, reveals that drivers missing 2-3 hours of sleep in a 24-hour period more than quadrupled their risk of a crash compared to drivers getting the recommended seven hours of sleep. This is the same crash risk the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration associates with driving over the legal limit for alcohol.

The AAA Foundation report found that in a 24-hour period, crash risk for sleep-deprived drivers increased steadily when compared to drivers who slept the recommended seven hours or more:

•    Six to seven hours of sleep: 1.3 times the crash risk
•    Five to six hours of sleep: 1.9 times the crash risk
•    Four to five hours of sleep: 4.3 times the crash risk
•    Less than four hours of sleep: 11.5 times the crash risk

While 97 percent of drivers told the AAA Foundation they view drowsy driving as a completely unacceptable behavior that is a serious threat to their safety, nearly one in three admit that at least once in the past month they drove when they were so tired they had a hard time keeping their eyes open.

"Managing a healthy work-life balance can be difficult and far too often we sacrifice our sleep as a result," said Jake Nelson, director of Traffic Safety Advocacy and Research for AAA. "Failing to maintain a healthy sleep schedule could mean putting yourself or others on the road at risk."

Symptoms of drowsy driving can include having trouble keeping eyes open, drifting from lanes or not remembering the last few miles driven. However, more than half of drivers involved in fatigue-related crashes experienced no symptoms before falling asleep behind the wheel. AAA urges drivers to not rely on their bodies to provide warning signs of fatigue and should instead prioritize getting plenty of sleep (at least seven hours) in their daily schedules. For longer trips, drivers should also:

•    Travel at times when normally awake
•    Schedule a break every two hours or every 100 miles
•    Avoid heavy foods
•    Travel with an alert passenger and take turns driving
•    Avoid medications that cause drowsiness or other impairment

The AAA Foundation report is based on the analysis of a representative sample of 7,234 drivers involved in 4,571 crashes. All data is from the NHTSA's National Motor Vehicle Crash Causation Survey which comprised a representative sample of police-reported crashes that involved at least one vehicle that was towed from the scene and resulted in emergency medical services being dispatched to the scene.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/12/161206110235.htm