Just back from an all-night drive from Panama City? Ready to get back into your school schedule? Here in a recent article from Entrepeneur Magazine, the author shares five myths many students believe. Do you?
MYTH: Sleep is downtime for the brain
- REALITY: During sleep, your cardiovascular system and brain are doing a lot of work when it comes to creativity, critical thinking and memory. For example, short-term memories get registered and stored in the brain during sleep.
MYTH: My body will adjust to less sleep
- REALITY: A 2003 study by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard Medical School found that decreasing sleep to six hours or less per night can reduce cognitive performance as much as pulling two straight all-nighters.
MYTH: I can sleep on the weekends
- REALITY: Sleeping two hours less a week straight will require you to add extra 10 hours onto two weekend nights of sleep.
MYTH: Coffee is as good as a night’s sleep
- REALITY: Caffeine is a useful cure for drowsiness, but it can only go so far. Your body doesn’t get the same benefits from caffeine that it gets from sleep. This means you will think and solve problems slower.
MYTH: Sleeping longer will make me fat
- REALITY: A 2011 study found that losing sleep slows your metabolism and can lead to weight gain. The brain chemicals that stimulate hunger increase with less sleep. Also, sleep deprivation increases cravings for high-fat, high-carbohydrate foods.
Source: J. PORTER, Debunking 5 Common Myths About Sleep, February 5, 2013, http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/225612
Nighty Night!
Roger Miller MD (OSU Student Health Services)