Driving while drowsy might be just as dangerous as driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol. A sleep study in which 241 volunteers allowed their cars to be wired with five cameras during the course of one year found that when the drivers hadn’t gotten enough sleep, they were bleary-eyed and unfocused, leading to risky behavior and an inability to concentrate on the road. In fact, the study found that being sleep-deprived might be the riskiest possible condition for a driver. It only goes to follow that sleep problems and sleep disorders can lead to terrible car accidents if left unchecked.
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As part of a study performed by the University of Pennsylvania, four paid volunteers spent a week and a half sequestered in a dimly lit hospital suite. They were required to stay awake until 4:00am, then they were woken up at 8:00am for five days in a row. Afterwards, the volunteers were tested to measure the effects of what is called “chronic partial sleep deprivation.” Essentially, this is what happens to people who have sleeping problems or sleep disorders.
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“So it seems to be that practice alone does not quite make perfect; it’s practice with a night of sleep that makes perfect” says Matthew Walker, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley. “There is this odd notion that we all have in western society that we have to stay awake all the time in order to get more done. And I think that is simply not true. In fact, I think that if you get a good night’s sleep, you will find that you can get more done than if you simply stay awake.”
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It it is a well known fact that a good night’s sleep can improve your memory; and conversely, suffering from sleep disorders can have a negative effect on your ability to learn and recall information. For instance, one sleep study of more than four hundred college students found that if they memorized a sequence of numbers immediately prior to getting a full night’s sleep, their performance was 20-30% better than those who memorized the same sequence but didn’t sleep directly afterwards. Gives a whole new perspective to the concept of cramming for exams, doesn’t it?
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