Sleep and memory are definitely related. The more sleep a person gets the better his or her memory is. In a poll by the national sleep foundation in March 2011, people felt that in order to feel their best they need about seven and a half hours of sleep a night. Most people do not get that much sleep a night. Instead they average 6 hours and 55 min.
Studies show that not enough sleep can make a person’s brain not function as well. When a person is sleep deprived, split second decision making is impaired. Sleep also helps the brain learn more complicated tasks. According to studies, if a person learns something in the morning and stays awake all day and also gets a good night’s sleep, they will remember more the next day; also, if a person learns something at night and gets a good seven and a half hours of sleep, the person will remember more of the information the next day. By learning something later in the day and by getting a good night’s sleep, the person will remember more of the information. According to an article in the Science Reference center database, Dr. Chiara Cirelli said, “Sleep is necessary for our brain to learn new things every day.” He also has found that when we sleep , the brain “sweeps clean” things that we don’t need to remember, so we can add more the next day. Do students remember as much information from their first period class compared to their last period based on the idea that people remember more information closer to the time they go to bed? Logically, if we sleep soon after we have learned information, we are more likely to retain it.
If a student goes to bed at 11pm, and wakes up at 6:30am, the student will get the right amount of sleep to remember the previous day’s information. Do teens today believe they get enough sleep? According to the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, in order to get a good night’s sleep, a teen should avoid caffeine, get rid of distracting noises and lights such as cell phones, computers, and tv’s, avoid eating large amounts of food or drink before bed, stick to a schedule of going to bed at the same time each day, and relax before bed such as taking a warm bath or shower. Are students today distracted by electronic devises near their sleeping environment? Many scientists out there say yes. Because of teens’ distracting environment, are their sleeping patterns disrupted?
What a great blog! As a sleep and memory scientist, I concur that teens need more sleep than they get, and it is especially important to get the sleep you need when you’re in school and need to learn so much!
Dr. Jessica Payne
Heather, Thank you for commenting on my blog. It is interesting to note that teens require even more sleep, yet with the homework factor and other activities, it would be interesting to find out how many teens average even 8.5 hours of sleep a night. I wonder if students who do get the correct amount of sleep a night do better on the average in school work and activities. It is an interesting area for further research.
You did a great job with your information. One other important fact to remember is that high school students/teenagers actually need a bit more sleep each night compared to most adults. Teens need, on average, 8.5 to 9.25 hours of sleep every night. Unfortunately, most teens are not getting this much needed sleep. Further information on sleep deprivation and all the elements it can effect are another really intereting area for research.
i found your article very intersting. there is many other affects that our related to sleep. you can gain weight. also it can affect your appiate. it can also mess with your hormons. i found this information on.
http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/guide/lose-weight-while-sleeping