Washington: Have trouble sleeping on your first night in a new place? That is because one brain hemisphere remains more awake than the other, apparently in a state of readiness for trouble, a new study has found.
Scientists explain what underlies the "first-night effect," phenomenon that poses an inconvenience to business travellers and sleep researchers. Sleep is often noticeably worse during the first night in, say, a hotel or a sleep lab.
"In Japan they say, 'if you change your pillow, you cannot sleep.' You do not sleep very well in a new place. We all know about it," said Yuka Sasaki from Brown University in the US.
They consistently found that on the first night in the lab, a particular network in the left hemisphere remained more active than in the right hemisphere, specifically during a deep sleep phase known as "slow-wave" sleep.
In other sleep phases and three other networks tested on the first night, there was no difference in alertness or activity in either hemisphere.
The testing, in other words, pinpointed a first-night-only effect specifically in the default-mode network of the left hemisphere during the slow-wave phase.
The findings were published in the journal Current Biology.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Scientists explain what underlies the "first-night effect," phenomenon that poses an inconvenience to business travellers and sleep researchers. Sleep is often noticeably worse during the first night in, say, a hotel or a sleep lab.
"In Japan they say, 'if you change your pillow, you cannot sleep.' You do not sleep very well in a new place. We all know about it," said Yuka Sasaki from Brown University in the US.
They consistently found that on the first night in the lab, a particular network in the left hemisphere remained more active than in the right hemisphere, specifically during a deep sleep phase known as "slow-wave" sleep.
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In other sleep phases and three other networks tested on the first night, there was no difference in alertness or activity in either hemisphere.
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The testing, in other words, pinpointed a first-night-only effect specifically in the default-mode network of the left hemisphere during the slow-wave phase.
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The findings were published in the journal Current Biology.
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(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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