Publish at November 26 2025 Updated November 26 2025
We often think of ourselves as creatures capable of adapting to anything. Indeed, we've managed to establish ourselves in environments that defy common sense, whether in mountain ranges, near impenetrable jungles or in deserts. As a result, we believe we can handle anything, including, for some, living in the dark. Studies tend to show, however, that this is far from the case, and that our minds are not designed to be awake past midnight.
We all live by the rhythm of the circadian cycle, the 24 hours when our organs act differently depending on the time of day. Virtually all living beings have these cycles, and some body tissues even have their own. This regulates everything from hormone production and temperature to sleep and digestion. This cycle is often better known to people as the biological clock. From the very beginnings of humanity, its cycle has been based on the sun, since it was much safer to hunt and gather in daylight than in the dark.
A normal circadian cycle might see a rise in energy in the morning, with a drop felt in the afternoon, a small surge until melatonin rises leading to sleep, and a floor reached in the middle of the night until early morning. This can change according to internal events, but also external ones such as the blue light from digital devices, which inhibits melatonin production. As we all know, this "ideal cycle" is rarely respected, and many people find themselves wide-eyed and wide-awake in the middle of the night.
Scientists have begun to study the effects on the brain in the middle of the night, and it seems that the brain is partly transformed during this period. For example, researchers have noted that dopamine transmitters fluctuate during the night. As a result, waking minds seek their dopamine source (usually addictions) more often in the middle of the night. Whether it's nocturnal cravings or alcohol and drug use, the night is said to lead to an increase in substance use. A study carried out over 24-hour periods in a supervised injection clinic in Barcelona showed that it was at night that certain individuals, including homeless people and women, would consume the most. There was a very slight dose of non-fatal overdosing at night compared with during the day.
For Harvard neurology professor Elizabeth Klerman, it's all based on the post-midnight theory of mind. According to current data acquired by her and other researchers, as the circadian cycle is designed for sleep from 11 o'clock in the evening, the brain would then begin to become more impulsive and thoughtless at night than during the day. This would explain a significant increase in suicides and violent acts at night.
There
are still unknown elements of the mind after midnight. Much research
needs to be done to better understand how the brain functions during
this period. Nevertheless, initial results seem to point to the fact
that we are not the night owls we may think we are.
Illustration - Night Life - 1771319117
References
The Human Mind Isn't Meant to Be Awake Past Midnight, Scientists Warn, https://www.sciencealert.com/the-human-mind-isnt-meant-to-be-awake-past-midnight-scientists-warn
Dopamine transporter function fluctuates across sleep/wake state: potential impact for addiction, https://www.nature.com/articles/s41386-020-00879-2
Learn to sleep well, https://cursus.edu/fr/26876/apprendre-a-bien-dormir
Circadian Rhythms, https://www.nigms.nih.gov/education/fact-sheets/Pages/circadian-rhythms
Impact of 24-hour schedule of a drug consumption room on service use and number of non-fatal overdoses. A quasiexperimental study in Barcelona, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0955395920301134
The Mind After Midnight: Nocturnal Wakefulness, Behavioral Dysregulation, and Psychopathology, https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/network-physiology/articles/10.3389/fnetp.2021.830338/full
Biorhythms in training, https://cursus.edu/fr/21416/les-biorythmes-en-formation
Staying Up Past Midnight Might Make Us More Impulsive and Cynical, https://www.discovermagazine.com/staying-up-past-midnight-might-make-us-more-impulsive-and-cynical-48160
Think your midnight hustle is harmless? Harvard scientists warn the brain isn't wired for late nights, and the risks may surprise you, https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/think-your-midnight-hustle-is-harmless-harvard-scientists-warn-the-brain-isnt-wired-for-late-nights-and-the-risks-may-surprise-you/articleshow/124690016.cms
You might also like:
Informational food and infobesity
There is no more information overload than there is excess food, water, or air. The problems relate only to our relationship with information and by the effective or ineffective use of our systems of selection, qualification, preparation, dosage.
The reasons for attacking one's neighbors have varied over the centuries, as have the means of dissuading them from doing so. Principles and physics of defense.
In search of universal pedagogy
Education isn't so much "traditional" as systematic, and it's only when it strays from its best practices that it goes wrong. In a context of teacher scarcity, even if reducing group size seems necessary for differentiated pedagogy, it becomes difficult to conceive it in practice; so what direction are institutions taking?
You have to learn how to get organized!
When taking a large training course, organization is essential for success. Training organizations can help their learners in this organization. Here are a few ways to support this organizational logic, which may also be of interest to anyone who is training independently...
Stimulating confidence in children
The development of self-confidence is essential for children. The earlier they develop it, the more durable it will be in adult life. But this confidence gains strength in an environment that encourages it. How do teachers and schools try to help students?
