Sleep News

People respond to sleep deprivation in ''very different ways''

By Matt Gardner

After staying awake for the entire night, certain people have been shown to be genetically vulnerable to a lack of rest, causing brain activity to dramatically reduce, it has been discovered.

Pierre Maquet at the University of Liege in Belgium and Derk-Jan Dijk at the University of Surrey found that the issue of sleep is much more personal than was originally thought, perhaps highlighting that certain people are able to go to bed later and still feel refreshed.

It was understood that extra brain structures were recruited by the brain in people who were able to respond better to a lack of rest, allowing them to work at a similar pace to many well-rested individuals.

Michael Chee, an expert on sleep, said of the research: "This study and others like it could help in identifying those who may be at risk for performance decline in jobs where sleep deprivation is an integral feature, for example all-night healthcare staff, senior decision makers, commercial aircraft pilots and truck drivers."

By simply making sure you get seven to eight hours of sleep in bed each night, it is widely believed by the medical community that a person will be equipped to deal with life at full capacity.