Just because your retired mother can function well on 6 hours of sleep doesn’t mean you (or your college kid!) can.
A study published in Science Daily found that older adults (aged 59 – 82) retain more cognitive function during sleep deprivation that younger adults (aged 19 to 38).
The researchers found that older adults’ cognitive skills like working memory, selective attention and verbal encoding/retrieval were not as affected from lack of sleep as those of the younger age group.
One theory is that the older adults may have remained healthier than the younger adults, helping them fight off stressors (like 36 hours of sleep deprivation).
The lead scientist warned that “sacrificing sleep to study or work is a false trade-off.” In other words, you might get that assignment turned in, but it’s likely going to be full of mistakes!
Here’s the study:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090610091333.htm
Tags: ADHD, attention, cognition, cognitive skills, memory, sleep
