Major depression has previously been associated with abnormalities in REM sleep. Excess REM sleep would diminish noradrenaline, resulting in decreased binding to the ɑ-2 receptor in the medial frontal lobes comprised of the ACC and the medial prefrontal cortex. The absence of REM sleep with TSD may give some participants a break to improve top-down control of the amygdala, resulting in an antidepressant effect.
If i’m reading that correctly, it was one night of sleep deprivation followed by one night of good sleep.
I’ve always found that the night after an all-nigher I sleep really well and wake up feeling pretty rested and good, but interesting to see that apparently only happens for some people.