Think you’re ok on short sleep? Think again

Monday 30th July 2012

A new study has found that workers performing tasks after sustained periods of short sleep perform certain jobs markedly less efficiently than when they have had more time in bed, and that the longer someone stays awake the worse their performance becomes.

Participants of the study at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital were given 10-12 hours of sleep per night for a week, followed by three weeks of 5-6 hours of sleep per night, set over a 28-hour cycle to replicate the impacts of jet-lag. Following the three week period, the participants were tested on a number of ‘visual search’ tasks with their performance levels assessed. It was found that the speed at which tasks were carried out was directly related to how long participants were awake, with those who had been awake longest performing worst. The time between 12am and 6am was found to be the period in which participants performed at their slowest, compared to more efficient speeds during the daytime.

Notably, the participants’ “self-rated” level of tiredness worsened as the trial progressed, with many under-estimating their sleepiness despite worsening performance on tests.

Lead author of the study, Dr. Jeanne F. Duffy, claims that the findings offer immediately usable information for those working night shifts in visually-demanding jobs such as airport control and security screening. “These types of jobs involve processes that require repeated, quick memory encoding and retrieval of visual information, in combination with decision-making about the information,” said Dr. Duffy. “This research provides valuable information for workers, and their employers, who perform these types of visual search tasks during the night shift, because they will do it much more slowly than when they are working during the day. The longer someone is awake, the ability to perform a task… is hindered, and this impact of being awake is even stronger at night.”

The results of the study were published in the Journal of Vision.

Tags: sleep memory

Category: Sleep Research

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