Politicians, military generals and first responders are just some high-stress positions which should avoid taking important decisions after a night without sleep, new research from the University of Ottawa indicates. We all understand the power of sleep and the vital role it plays in human health, cognitive performance and in regulating our emotional well-being. Numerous studies into a lack of sleep have shown drops in neurocognitive functions, particularly vigilant attention, motor responses, inhibition control, and working memory. Despite this, sleep loss continues to challenge public health and affect people of all ages. Sleep and risky decision-making With little insight into the impact of a lack of sleep on risky decision-making at the neuroimaging level, researchers from the University of Ottawa and the University of Pennsylvania found a 24-hour period of sleep deprivation significantly impacted individuals' decision-making processes by dampening neural responses to the outcomes of their choices. In other words, people tend to exhibit reduced positive emotions in response to winning outcomes and diminished negative emotions when faced with losses after pulling an all-nighter compared to their well-rested baseline condition.