Our sleeping schedule is determine by the Circadian Rhythm. The Circadian Rhythem is a 24-hour repeating rhythm Cycle created by two processes.
Process 1. Continuous pressure to sleep that builds every hour you are awake caused by rise in adenosine levels. Rise in Adenosine levels: As you are awake, the level of adenosine compound rise in your brain. When sleeping, the body breaks down adenosine compound. Therefore, rise in adenosine levels tells your brain you need to sleep.
Process 2. Internal body clock takes environmental cues such as light and darkness determine when you feel awake and drowsy. 1
The Benefits of Sleep
A study found people can learn a task better if they are well rested. They can also recall what they learned better and more efficiently if get a good night of sleep after learning task rather than if they are sleep deprived. The study found that students needed at least 6 hours of sleep to show improvement and the student’s performances to recall the task increased with increasing hours of sleep. Therefore, a student that slept 8 hours outperformed a student that slept 6 or 7 hours. The amount of improvement was directly related to how much sleep the individual got the night after learning the task. The study also found students that commonly pull all-nighters are actually doing worse on recall tasks because the study found it is important to get good rest prior to a mentally challenging task rather than sleeping for a short period of time prior to task or waiting to sleep after the task. 2
How much sleep do you need?
The amount of sleep required varies from person to person. Researchers in the study found when adults were given unlimited opportunity to sleep; they slept on average 8 to 8.5 hours. This suggests that in order for college students to be at their maximum efficiency, they must get at least 8 hours of sleep. The amount of sleep required changes depending on the point at which one is in their life cycle. For example, newborns and children require more sleep than an adult. The elderly require less sleep and have more trouble sleeping than adults. Therefore, the amount of sleep required to be fully functional depends on one’s age and for a college student to be at maximum efficiency, they must get at least 8 hours of sleep. 2
This image displays the hours of sleep necessary from when an individual is born until they progress into adulthood. 3
References
1. What Makes you Sleep? National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute website. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/sdd/whatmakes. Published February 22, 2012. Accessed April 20, 2015. 2. Healthy Sleep.National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute website. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/files/docs/public/sleep/healthy_sleep. Accessed April 20, 2015 3. Your ADHD Child May be Sleep Deprived. Optidokes Academy. http://optikodes.com/hot-topics/your-adhd-child-may-be-sleep-deprived/. Accessed April 21, 2015. 4. Twelve Simple Tips to Improve your Sleep. Healthy Sleep. http://healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/healthy/getting/overcoming/tips. Edited December 18, 2007/ Accessed April 21, 2015.