Give up naps: research shows that naps do not alleviate lack of sleep

"We are interested in understanding the cognitive deficits associated with sleep deprivation

This research, published in the journal Sleep, is one of the first to measure the effectiveness of short naps

Finn said: "Although short-term naps did not show measurable effects in alleviating the effects of sleep deprivation, we found that the amount of slow-wave sleep that participants received during the nap was associated with a reduction in the damage associated with sleep deprivation.

Slow wave sleep, or SWS, is the deepest and most rejuvenating stage of sleep

Finn said: "SWS is the most important stage of sleep

Finn’s research team-including colleagues from Michigan State University, psychology professors Erik Altmann and Michelle Stepan (Michelle Stepan), the most recent alumni of Michigan State University, currently at University of Pittsburgh (University of Pittsburgh) work-recruited 275 college-age participants to participate in this study

Participants completed cognitive tasks when they arrived at Michigan State University’s Sleep and Learning Laboratory at night, and were then randomly divided into three groups: the first group was sent home to sleep; the second group spent the night in the laboratory with a chance to take a 30-day nap Minutes or 60 minutes; the third group did not take a nap at all under deprivation conditions

The next morning, participants gathered in the lab again to repeat cognitive tasks, testing attention and retention, or the ability to complete a series of steps in a specific order, without skipping or repeating—even after being interrupted

Finn said: “The group of people who stayed up late for a short sleep is still affected by lack of sleep, and made significantly more mistakes in the task than the group of people who went home and slept all night

Finn said these numbers may seem small, but if you take into account the types of errors that can happen to people with sleep deprivation such as doctors, police or truck drivers, a 4% reduction in errors could save lives

"Individuals who received more SWS tended to show fewer errors in both tasks

Finn hopes that these findings underscore the importance of sleep priority, and that naps-even including SWS-cannot replace a full night's sleep

Journal Reference :

1. Michelle E Stepan, Erik M Altmann, Kimberly M Fenn.