I don’t think sleep is really all that much "fun", but it is painless and getting enough of it generally benefits mood (exception: sleep deprivation is occasionally used as a short-term fix for depression; however, for most people sleep dep is more likely to cause depression than elevate mood). Most of us don’t get enough sleep, which hurts cognitive performance and general health.
A few years back, I worked with Ilana Hairston to explore the effect of sleep deprivation on memory and learning in rats. Ilana led the study and found that not getting enough sleep can undo the rejuvenating effects of new learning. Moreover, the stress induced by inadequate sleep slows down the rate of neurogenesis - the birth and development of new brain cells.
So what does this mean to you? If you’re exercising your brain by learning new things or using Lumosity, you’ll get more out of your training by sleeping 7-9 hours per night. By getting enough sleep you ensure that your brain has a chance to recover and develop so that you can perform optimally every day. This page summarizes ten health benefits of getting enough sleep.
2 Comments
keep up the good job
As a mother who has not slept more than 5 hours of uninterrupted sleep for about 9 months now, I fully attest to the effect it has on my brain. Not measured, but I totally stumble on everything: remembering appointments, remembering where I put things, what I did the day before. I also notice I’m so tired that I can’t muster up much concentration to figure things out…like calculate numbers or create a complicated itinerary.
All worth it though!
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