Sleep deprivation can hinder you from completing daily tasks, study states
| Oct 4, 2018, 16:54 IST
The Michigan State University (MUS) conducted a research on how much sleep deprivation can affect a person's ability to complete daily tasks. More than 200 participants were asked to visit their sleep lab at 10 pm. They were asked to complete a task but every once in a while the researchers would interrupt them and then they were asked to use their memories to pick up where they'd left off. At midnight, half the participants were sent home to sleep, whereas the other half stayed up all night. The next morning, everyone was required to reassemble at the lab to take the test a second time.
"All participants met performance criteria in the evening, but roughly 15 percent of participants in the sleep-deprived group failed in the morning, compared to 1 percent of those who slept,” said study co-author Kimberly Fenn, director of MSU's sleep lab, in a statement. "Sleep-deprived participants not only showed more errors than those who slept but also showed a progressive increase in errors associated with memory as they performed the task — an effect not observed in those who slept," Fenn said.
"Lack of sleep is one of the primary reasons for human error," she said. "Even relatively moderate sleep restriction — if sustained night after night — can seriously impair waking neurobehavioral functions in healthy young adults," wrote the study's authors.
"All participants met performance criteria in the evening, but roughly 15 percent of participants in the sleep-deprived group failed in the morning, compared to 1 percent of those who slept,” said study co-author Kimberly Fenn, director of MSU's sleep lab, in a statement. "Sleep-deprived participants not only showed more errors than those who slept but also showed a progressive increase in errors associated with memory as they performed the task — an effect not observed in those who slept," Fenn said.
"Lack of sleep is one of the primary reasons for human error," she said. "Even relatively moderate sleep restriction — if sustained night after night — can seriously impair waking neurobehavioral functions in healthy young adults," wrote the study's authors.