Photo Illustration by Tommy Penick

Lack of sleep hits snooze on learning, decision making

by NASH DUNN
News Reporter

Recharging life’s bushed batteries with eight hours of REM every night, sleep is an easy way to revive exhausted bodily functions.  

Yet due to cramming, living situations and the occasional party, the average college student constantly struggles to properly “feed” his or her brain.

And with the onset of a 24-hour library, students at Appalachian State University have another reason to twist and turn from an adequate amount of shut-eye.

“Young adults need about seven to nine hours [of sleep], but some need less and some need more and it’s really dependent on the person,” Student Wellness Center Coordinator Jessica M. Gillaspy said.

Poor memory learning, mood irritability and hypertension can all arise when students fail to get an adequate quantity, as well as quality, of sleep.

The National Sleep Foundation describes rapid-eye movement (REM) and non-rapid eye movement (NREM) as the two main stages of sleep.

Both stages are important for quality sleep, and REM, or “deep sleep,” usually makes up 25 percent of nightly shut-eye, while NREM encompasses 75 percent, according to sleepfoundation.org.

Justin M. Kitts, College of Student Development graduate student, gets around five hours of sleep a night, and said he is “not normally” tired, but definitely “uses coffee to help” himself along.

But those like Kitts who suffer from sleep deprivation are not the only ones at risk.

According to recent studies by the Scripps Clinic Sleep Center, over-sleepers can also suffer negative affects due to an over-abundance of sleep.

Scripps Co-Director Dr. Daniel Kripke said, “too much long sleep on weekends does not seem to make people feel better,” but the effects of oversleeping haven’t been scientifically determined, according to cnn.com.

“When I oversleep I feel horrible and absolutely drained,” junior biology major Ivan Pecado said. “Psychologically I tell myself that sleeping late on the weekends suffices, but I know that’s not how it works.”

Paying off sleep debt

After consistent periods of limited rest, taking a 30-minute “power nap” or sleeping late on a Sunday may not have much of an affect on lost sleep.

In several recent studies, scientists who analyzed subjects that attempted “recovery sleep” found that it can take a week or more for the consequences of inadequate sleep to wear off.

A 2008 study in Stockholm, Sweden examined subjects who slept four hours a night over five days, and then eight hours a night over the following week. Although the subjects reported no sleepiness, scientists found they showed “slight” cognitive impairments a week later, according to pubmed.gov.

Gillaspy feels “recovery sleep” helps, but said there are other measures that could prevent poor sleep altogether.  

In addition to maintaining a regular sleep schedule, activities like avoiding caffeine and alcohol close to bedtime, exercising regularly, establishing a bedtime routine and creating a sleep-conductive environment could all lead to an adequate amount of sleep, Gillaspy said.

The circadian brain

Natural forces, such as circadian rhythms, also have an affect on sleep, and can notably influence how well someone learns.

Department of Psychology associate professor Todd McElroy feels sleep patterns and cognitive learning are largely influenced by individualized circadian rhythms, or the natural body rhythms and sleep patterns that humans go through.

Because most college students are “evening types,” they tend to have drops in cognitive learning during morning hours. Although conflicts in rhythms, or “circadian mismatching,” are inevitable, McElroy said these patterns can be recognized and addressed.    

“There are deficits in cognitive resources when you put someone in a different time or different rhythm than they’re used to,” McElroy said. “You can learn that you have a deficit during these off times and you can try to work harder to combat those known deficiency [time periods].”

Additional Information:

• Non-rapid-eye movement sleep is characterized by regular breathing and heart rate, low body temperature and the most restorative sleep.

• Insomnia is having trouble falling or staying asleep, or waking up feeling unrefreshed. Forty-eight percent of Americans report insomnia occasionally, while 22 percent experience insomnia almost every night.

• Rapid-eye movement sleep is often associated with dreaming and is characterized by temporary muscle paralysis.

• Caffeine can temporarily make us feel more alert by blocking sleep-inducing chemicals in the brain and increasing adrenaline.

Photo Illustration by Tommy Penick  |  The Appalachian

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