Cognitive neuroscience continues to build meaningful connections between affective behavior and human brain function. Within the biologic sciences, a similar renaissance has taken place, focusing on the role of sleep in various neurocognitive processes, and most recently, the interaction between sleep and emotional regulation. This review surveys an array of diverse findings across basic and clinical research domains, resulting in a convergent view of sleep-dependent emotional brain processing. Based on the unique neurobiology of sleep, the authors outline a model describing the overnight modulation of affective neural systems and the (re)processing of recent emotional experiences.