Sleep Deprivation ‘Makes Us Confess To Things We Haven’t Done’

A lack of sleep makes us more likely to confess to things we haven’t done, a study has claimed.

Researchers in the US said that sleep deprived suspects are more likely to confess to crimes they did not commit.

The joint study by the University of California, Irvine and Michigan State University found that those who have gone without sleep are more likely to sign false confessions than rested individuals.

It said the odds of signing a false confession for police were 4.5 times higher for those who had been awake for 24 hours than those who had slept for eight hours the previous night.

The study is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“This is the first direct evidence that sleep deprivation increases the likelihood that a person will falsely confess to wrongdoing that never occurred,” said Kimberly M. Fenn, associate professor of psychology at Michigan State University.

“It’s a crucial first step toward understanding the role of sleep deprivation in false confessions and, in turn, raises complex questions about the use of sleep deprivation in the interrogation of innocent and guilty suspects.”

False confessions in the US are believed to account for up to 25 per cent of wrongful convictions.

In the study, 88 participants were asked to complete various computer and cognitive tests. On the final day of the tests, half of the participants stayed awake overnight and half went to sleep for eight hours.

Of those who were deprived of sleep, 50 per cent were willing to sign a mock false confession, while only 18 per cent of rested participants signed.

“A false admission of wrongdoing can have disastrous consequences in a legal system already fraught with miscarriages of justice,” said the study.

“We are hopeful that our study is the first of many to uncover the sleep-related factors that influence processes related to false confession.’

(Picture: Rex)