Sleep: An Overview
Many MIT students view being sleep-deprived as an academic badge of honor. In reality, however, sleep deprivation can negatively affect academic ability by causing memory deficits and other health problems. Sleep helps to consolidate memory and learning, and boosts mood and energy level. Most adults require seven to nine hours of sleep every night for optimal physical and mental performance, and children and teenagers require even more.
Your Body’s Own Worst Enemy
Research shows that 24 hours without sleep has the same effect on reaction time, word recall, and judgment as a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of more than .10 (a BAC of .10 meets or exceeds the legal standard for intoxication in all 50 states). A recent study* indicates that lack of sleep may result in lower academic performance; the survey of 111 college students found that those who reported pulling one or more all-nighters since starting their college careers had slightly lower GPAs than those who did not. Higher risks of obesity and diabetes have also been associated with inadequate sleep.
*Thatcher, P.V., 2008, University Students and the “All Nighter”: Correlates and Patterns of Students’ Engagement in a Single Night of Total Sleep Deprivation, Behavioral Sleep Medicine, V1, No. 1, 16–31.
Tips to reduce the harm of sleep deprivation
- If you find yourself pulling an all-nighter, try to clear your schedule the next night so you can get to sleep as early as possible. This will minimize the disruption to your sleep-wake cycle and get you back on track to deep, restorative sleep sooner.
- If you have chronic sleep deprivation, try to time your naps so they have the best impact and the least disruption to your sleep-wake cycle. A 20- to 30-minute power nap can be refreshing without creating too much “sleep inertia,” or lethargy, upon awakening. If you have a huge sleep deficit, you might choose to take a 90-minute nap, which allows the body to go through deep sleep and come back up into a lighter stage of sleep, making it easier to wake up. Ideal timing for naps is mid-afternoon.
- Deep, slow-wave sleep is extremely important, so try to make your sleep environment as conducive to sleep as possible by keeping it dark (or wearing a sleep mask), quiet (or using a white noise machine or earplugs), and cool.
- Exercising in the morning or afternoon helps promote deeper, restorative sleep at night. If you work out in the evenings, make sure your body has cooled off before going to bed. A drop in body temperature is a hallmark of a strong sleep cycle.
- The body’s stress response (“fight or flight”) is the enemy of deep sleep. Increases in cortisol from stress or drinking alcohol interfere with deep sleep states. Learn how to evoke your own “relaxation response” (the biological opposite of the fight or flight response) to help you get to sleep faster and stay in a deeper stage of sleep.
How We Can Help
MIT Medical offers several resources that can help you get the most out of your sleep, including:
Wellness classes: The Center for Health Promotion & Wellness (CHPW) sponsors classes to help you relax and become more in tune with your body, such as yoga and meditation.
Relaxation exercises: CHPW’s Multimedia Library has compiled a set of relaxation tapes you can download online. Our health-topic pages on stress and mindfulness also provide information on self-calming techniques.
Health educator consultations: If intense stress or anxiety is affecting your sleep, consider speaking with one of the health educators at CHPW to learn about ways to deal with these issues.
Information and Education
For more information about sleep and tips for improving your sleeping habits, read our Cheat Sleep (PDF) pamphlet. The following web sites also provide helpful information about sleep:
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