Study shows that sleep restriction impairs cognitive functioning in high school students

Restricting adolescents’ sleep to 5 hours of time in bed for 7 nights led to cumulative degradation of sustained attention, working memory, executive function, and speed of processing, according to a study published in the March issue of the journal SLEEP. Residual effects on sustained attention and subjective sleepiness persisted after 2 nights of a 9-hour recovery sleep opportunity.

Read the study in the journal SLEEP – Cognitive Performance, Sleepiness, and Mood in Partially Sleep Deprived Adolescents: The Need for Sleep Study

Read the commentary in SLEEP – The Cumulative Impact of Adolescent Sleep Loss: Next Steps