Benefits of Sleep

Benefits Of Sleep

Many people are either early birds, the ones who like to wake up early or night owls, people who like to stay up late at night. Whether it’s facetiming a friend, playing your games on a gaming console or just doing any other leisure activity. But going to bed at irregular times, however, is not good for your health. Studies have shown that getting enough sleep is essential. Getting enough sleep actually also has many benefits that you may not be aware of.

Getting a good night's rest can improve so many cognitive functions that are needed for daily life. Studies have shown that getting a sufficient amount of sleep can improve your learning,working and focus. Harvard conducted a study that shows that sleep can significantly increase performance in school. College students who volunteered were asked to memorize a pair of unrelated words. Some of the volunteers were allowed to take a 45 minute nap. The students took the test and those who took that nap did significantly better than those who didn't. It is stated in the Harvard health blog, where this study is discussed, that “napping won't make you smart or assure success, but it can help improve your memory and solve problems.”(Simon) Another study, done by Walker et al demonstrates the same thing as Harvard's study.(Ellenbogen) There was a wake control group, these volunteers were asked to do learning tasks at 10 AM and to do the same tasks at 10 PM the same day. The sleep experimental group would have class at 10 PM, sleep through the night, then do tasks at 10 AM. The sleep experimental group showed greater performance. So, make sure to get enough sleep if you have that massive biology test tomorrow.

Another cognitive function that sleep benefits is creativity. It is said that sleep feeds creativity and “synthesizes new ideas.”(National Sleep Foundation) With thinking more clearly and being able to generate new ideas, your creative thoughts will flow more freely. A study that proves this to be true is a study conducted by California researchers. They gave volunteers a set of creative problems to try to figure out before testing them in the late afternoon. Half stayed awake and the other half took a nap. Those who entered REM, a state of very deep sleep, were reported to do 40% better than those who didn't enter REM.(Simon) Creativity requires lots of thinking and for your gears to be turning and sleep helps with that.

Overall, getting enough rest can have many positive effects on your overall health. It can help to improve your learning in school, to help you focus better. Not only that, it helps to improve our creative mindsets. The benefits I discussed above are only a few of the many benefits rest has on us. In conclusion, make sure to get enough sleep so you can stay healthy and to be ready to take on the world daily.

Work Cited

Simon, Harvey B. “Sleep Helps Learning, Memory.” Harvard Health Blog, 30 Oct. 2015, www.health.harvard.edu/blog/sleep-helps-learning-memory-201202154265.

Ellenbogen, Jeffrey M. “Cognitive Benefits of Sleep and Their Loss Due to Sleep Deprivation.” Neurology, Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. on Behalf of the American Academy of Neurology, 12 Apr. 2005, n.neurology.org/content/64/7/E25.full.

“How Lack of Sleep Impacts Cognitive Performance and Focus.” National Sleep Foundation, www.sleepfoundation.org/articles/how-lack-sleep-impacts-cognitive-performance-and-focus.