To Sleep or Not to Sleep: Is Six Hours Really Enough?
In fact, getting six hours of sleep is just as bad as not sleeping at all.
A sleep deprivation study, published in the journal Sleep, tested the cumulative lack of sleep on cognitive performance. Scientists restricted 48 individuals to a maximum of six or eight hours a night for two weeks; one was deprived of sleep for three days consecutively. Surprisingly, the subset restricted to six not only showed cognitive performance on par with those controlled for sleep depravation, but reported no fatigue. According to the CDC, one out of every three Americans report less than seven hours of sleep and research from Epidemiology cites a gross overestimation of sleep (0.8 hours).
These findings strongly suggest a reevaluation of our habits — easier said than done, but it could do wonders for our health and performance.
- Source
- Fast Company
- Photographer
- Will Mcbride
