Abstract:

That sleep quality could affect individual’s risk-taking behavior has been largely confirmed and supported by a growing body of research. It has been revealed that sleep loss affects not only the functional integrity of the frontal cortex, but also the activation of the amygdala and striatum brain regions, ultimately increasing individuals’ risk-taking behavior by decreasing their perception of danger and sensitivity to loss. However, previous studies have mostly focused on adult populations and neglected the interaction effect of personality traits and social environment on the relationship between sleep quality and risk-taking behavior. Moreover, due to the prevalence of sleep deprivation and high-risk-taking behavior in adolescents, the implications of further studies to understand these dynamics—especially the neural processing involved—in this population are addressed.

Key words: sleep quality, risk-taking behavior, cognitive control system, emotional reward system