Being cranky and irritable after a disturbed night is already a common thing. But aside from this, researchers over at the University of California Berkeley found out that lack of sleep also leads to primitive behavior. Under the leadership of Matthew Walker, the researchers studied the patterns of the brain of the people who participated in the study before and after they were deprived of sleep. When deprived of sleep the activity of the brain gets redirected from the rational cortex to the amygdala, which is also referred to as the “fear center”.

Because of lack of sleep the brain was unable to process what are supposed to be the appropriate responses. The researchers also observed that the volunteers in the study showed behavior that was similar to being punch drunk. They went that fast from being upset to being happy. Also according to Matthew Walker, “This is the first set of experiments that demonstrate that even healthy people’s brain mimic certain pathological psychiatric patterns when deprived of sleep.”

Because of this finding, you might want to steer clear of anyone who has not slept well for several days. You never know what primitive acts he or she might commit.