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Sleep Late to Restore Brain Power

*GG*

senior member
Messages
6,389
Location
Concord, NH
Oh boy, do I have good news to share!

Evidence demonstrates that sleeping in on the weekend is a smart idea after a tough week at work (or anywhere else). Ive been known to sleep late myself on occasion, but always with a twinge of guilt, since were told that its better to go to sleep and get up at the same time every day. But juggling my job, kids, household tasks and other requirements all week sometimes leaves me weary and sleep-deprived by Friday afternoon -- and I bet you know exactly how I feel.

Americans have a sleep debt that makes the national budget deficit look minor, warns Matthew Edlund, MD, MOH, an expert on rest, biological clocks, performance and sleep based in Sarasota, Florida , and author of the new book, The Power of Rest. Sleep is as important to health as food and water, and we should stop feeling guilty for allotting time for our bodies to rest, recharge and regenerate, he said.

Heres Proof...

At the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, researchers conducted a study of the effect of sleep deprivation on the brain power of 159 healthy adults aged 22 to 45. A control group of 17 spent 12 consecutive days in the sleep lab -- 10 hours in bed each night for seven nights -- while the others spent 10 hours in bed for the first two nights, then were in bed only from 4 a.m. to 8 a.m. for five consecutive nights. Next, this group was assigned randomized amounts of recovery sleep, up to 10 hours per night.

All participants completed 30-minute computerized tests to assess their levels of alertness and neurobehavior performance every two hours while awake -- and no one will be surprised to learn that in comparison with those who had adequate sleep, people with restricted sleep experienced:

Impaired alertness
Shortened attention span
Reduced reaction time.

Why You Need a Vacation

But heres the happy finding: Normal function (alertness and performance, as above) was restored in sleep-deprived participants after just one solid night of recovery sleep -- 10 hours, or the equivalent of squeezing in extra shut-eye on Saturday morning after a long week. (The more recovery sleep, the higher the scores.) In contrast, participants whose sleep continued to be restricted to an average of four to six hours per night performed poorly on tests and continued to get worse as their restricted sleep continued. Researchers also warned that even 10 hours of sleep in one night is not enough to bounce back if you continually push yourself too hard and burn the candle at both ends. Dr. Edlund said that, in fact, many studies have shown that even a few weeks of normal sleep wont make up for a longtime habit of sleep deprivation -- and he added that nowadays people rarely know what its like to feel fully rested. In that case, it is likely to take more than a day -- think many weeks, and thats only if you dont go back to your old ways -- to get back to par... which is why we need to take vacations!

These results were published in the August 2010 issue of the journal Sleep.

Just as we dont expect our bodies to function without adequate nutrition, we cant expect to feel fully fueled and alert without sufficient sleep, Dr. Edlund told me. The best scenario, of course, is to not allow yourself to become sleep-deprived in the first place -- but this is not always possible. Most people require seven or eight hours a night to be at their best the next day. But when that doesnt happen, we now know that you can get tremendous benefit from snoozing a little longer even for just one morning. It gives your brain time to recover and reboot -- youll be more focused, productive and energetic as a result.

Source(s):

Matthew Edlund, MD, MOH (masters in occupational health), Center for Circadian Medicine, Sarasota , Florida . Dr. Edlund is author of The Power of Rest: Why Sleep Alone is Not Enough: A 30-Day Plan to Reset Your Body (HarperOne). Visit his Web site at www.TheRestDoctor.com.
 

*GG*

senior member
Messages
6,389
Location
Concord, NH
Not sure, this was sent to me in a newsletter email, so you will have to google or something of the like to find more info. Sorry I am of no further help.

GG
 

Cort

Phoenix Rising Founder
nowadays people rarely know what it’s like to feel fully rested.

I really get this. I've been feeling better lately and one thing I notice is that I can rest longer into the day. Before it was up at 6 or whenever and I couldn't go back to sleep.

Its interesting that in San Diego I could curl back into a little restful sleep stage - maybe just 15 or 20 miinutes but it was like being in bliss for awhile. In Las Vegas its really hard to do that - it must be due to something in the air that I am sensitive too.
 

eric_s

Senior Member
Messages
1,925
Location
Switzerland/Spain (Valencia)
I totally agree. Sleep is what helps me most. I think if you can set things up in a way that you get enough sleep more or less every night, that increases your chance of getting better. I sleep until i wake up and only put an alarm clock if i really have to, for example if i have to catch a bus or train. And i put up some heavy curtains so that the sunlight won't wake me up.
 

Sushi

Moderation Resource Albuquerque
Messages
19,935
Location
Albuquerque
I totally agree. Sleep is what helps me most. I think if you can set things up in a way that you get enough sleep more or less every night, that increases your chance of getting better.

This is true for me too. I never used to be able to stay asleep long enough to recover from the day. LDN (for some reason) lets me sleep as long as is necessary. So, for instance, if I have exercised or gone out, I'll sleep an extra hour naturally. Sometimes I wake up after 8 or 9 hours and feel like hell, but when I go back to sleep for a couple more hours I actually feel OK--even viral symptoms are less.

Trouble with all this is I spend a lot of time asleep (10 or 11 hours!), but I seem to need it and it makes a difference. Also interesting, if I take an FIR in the evening, I'll need about an hour less sleep to get the same benefit.

Sushi