Wondering why some people seem to be able to function well on only 6 hours sleep a night while you are a complete zombie after several such nights? The answer is in, its not you moral weakness but your genes.
Those fortunate souls who need less sleep are born with a variant of a gene called PER3 that regulates their sleep needs. This gene variant allows them to thrive on less sleep, in fact they are even more energetic than the 8 hour sleepers. It seems that their sleep needs are simply lower. (Sleep Needs Study Citation)
“Short-term and chronic disruptions in the length of optimal sleep can have serious consequences on cognition, mood and physical health, including cancer and endocrine function,” says the senior author of the study, Ying-Hui Fu, UCSF professor of neurology.”
Unfortunately there isn’t anything you can do to change your genes so at this point this finding will only be of practical importance to sleep researchers. Learning about genetic variation in sleep needs is a help though. Now you have the perfect answer to anyone who thinks you could do better!
In a separate study, led by led by Pierre Maquet, MD, at the University of Lìege in Belgium and Derk-Jan Dijk, PhD, at the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom and reported in the June 24 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience helps explain why sleep deprivation affects some people more than others.
“…After staying awake all night, those who are genetically vulnerable to sleep loss showed reduced brain activity, while those who are genetically resilient showed expanded brain activity, the study found. The findings help explain individual differences in the ability to compensate for lack of sleep.”
So, in light of this, do those programs that say they can train you to need less sleep make sense?
Those fortunate souls who need less sleep are born with a variant of a gene called PER3 that regulates their sleep needs. This gene variant allows them to thrive on less sleep, in fact they are even more energetic than the 8 hour sleepers. It seems that their sleep needs are simply lower. (Sleep Needs Study Citation)
“Short-term and chronic disruptions in the length of optimal sleep can have serious consequences on cognition, mood and physical health, including cancer and endocrine function,” says the senior author of the study, Ying-Hui Fu, UCSF professor of neurology.”
Unfortunately there isn’t anything you can do to change your genes so at this point this finding will only be of practical importance to sleep researchers. Learning about genetic variation in sleep needs is a help though. Now you have the perfect answer to anyone who thinks you could do better!
In a separate study, led by led by Pierre Maquet, MD, at the University of Lìege in Belgium and Derk-Jan Dijk, PhD, at the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom and reported in the June 24 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience helps explain why sleep deprivation affects some people more than others.
“…After staying awake all night, those who are genetically vulnerable to sleep loss showed reduced brain activity, while those who are genetically resilient showed expanded brain activity, the study found. The findings help explain individual differences in the ability to compensate for lack of sleep.”
So, in light of this, do those programs that say they can train you to need less sleep make sense?