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“What the study showed is that there are things like memory and mental processing speed that will not be restored that quickly.”

Sleep Specialist & assistant professor Dr. Raj Dasgupta, Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California, on a new sleep study.

Published on

sep 9, 2021

Dr. Dasgupta was not involved in the study, which shows recovery times for sleep deprivation take longer than a week.
The study was small - following 13 people in their 20s and depriving them of adequate sleep for 10 days (sleep times were reduced by 30%).
After allowing them a week to "make up" sleep and return to their regular schedule, although reaction times recovered to baseline levels - cognitive tests showed otherwise.
Interesting to note - From CNN: It may have been a small study, but it echoes results from prior research. A lab-based sleep study found that people who were sleeping fewer than six hours a night for two weeks -- and who thought they were doing just fine -- functioned as badly on cognitive and reflex tests as people who were deprived of any sleep for two full nights.

Why It Matters: Albeit small, this study reflects why not getting enough sleep for a period of time can impact your life.