The Cognitive Neuroscience of Sleep and the Consequences of Sleep Deprivation

All animals need sleep. Why? To be honest, we don't know for sure. Sleeping, however, is essential for regulating our bodily functions. We need it for functioning efficiently and productively. But what happens when you don't get enough sleep? 

Many of us wake up feeling groggy and exhausted, often prone to uncontrollable yawning. We begin to accumulate what is known as "sleep debt" - if we continue to sleep less (Under 7-8 hours for teenagers), our cognitive processes slowly begin to deteriorate over time. Additionally, people who sleep less than 7 hours a night have an increased risk of obesity, heart disease, diabetes, coupled with a higher risk of death.

A study at the University of California Irvine shockingly suggested that sleep depression may also be responsible for false memories - that is, incorrect information is absorbed and the individual forms memories of things that did not happen. In this study, one experiment involved asking participants if they had seen Flight 93 crashing in Pennsylvania on 9/11. The researchers claimed that footage of this incident had been circulating widely, even though no such footage existed. They found that, "Participants who had gotten five hours or less of sleep the night before ("restricted" sleepers) were more likely than the normal sleepers to claim that they had seen the footage. Fifty-four percent of those with restricted sleep claimed to have seen it, whereas only 33 percent of normal sleepers claimed to remember the non-existent footage."

Clearly there are many side effects associated with sleep deprivation, but there are possibly some ways to overcome your “sleep debt” should you have accumulated any. A “power nap” is the most highly recommended form of rejuvenating your body after feeling exhausted. Many recommend that it only be around 20-30 minutes so as not to leave you feeling groggy when you wake up. This way, you are not letting your body enter deep sleep. Another recommends that you just get your sleep! About 7-8 hours a night is the ideal amount, but there may be a caveat: sleep cycles. When you sleep, you enter different levels of consciousness (there are 4). Two main types of sleep are NREM (Non-Rapid Eye Movement - also known as quiet sleep) and REM (Rapid Eye Movement - also known as active sleep or paradoxical sleep). These are cycles that last approximately 90 minutes when you sleep. If you perfectly time it so that you wake up at the end of your sleep cycle, you will likely be fresher and more active when you wake up (7.5 hours would give you 5 sleep cycles in total).