Sleep 'boosts brain cell numbers'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-23932577

by akandiah • 13 years ago

100 40 13 years ago

bbc.co.uk

yardie• 13 years ago

Good article. I hope some of these 'brogrammers' read it and realize that programming 20 hours a day is not only shortening your lifespan. It is, literally, making you more stupid.

adamnemecek• 13 years ago

That's what Red Bull is for, brah.

arethuza• 13 years ago

I wonder if anyone has ever done a statistical analysis of a large project to see when changes that generated bugs were actually performed. I've long suspected that when you see particularly silly bugs committed by people who really do know better there is usually some explanation that can often be that they are tired/stressed/distracted.

[NB I know myself that I can do particularly silly things when tired so I will sometimes let myself spend a long time investigating a problem but I won't fix it until the next day.]

vidarh• 13 years ago

I've had projects where we had to send people home because they became a such a noticeable burden.

Personally I wanted to force people out of the office much earlier on one of them because pretty much nothing got done when people were staying late, but it left everyone more tired in the morning, but the CEO was of the "more hours == more work done" mentality and wouldn't listen.

colanderman• 13 years ago

Replying to let hnbanned (see: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6319611) know he's been hellbanned again for no reason. Here's his comment:

http://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/why-working-more-than-40...

The studies showed that there's a short term gain followed by a fall in productivity.

jwdunne• 13 years ago

This is interesting actually. I remember a time I stayed up all night trying to get a script for a game working (hobby project). I was hacking away all night until early morning and I just couldn't fix the issues. After a good sleep, I'd fixed the issue and got it working as it should within an hour. The lesson for me was that I shouldn't put my health on the line for these types of things; it doesn't help in actually making progress and it could set my performance back weeks.

Another big lesson, which is more general and took a few more mistakes, was the value of stepping away from a problem after intense conscious focus on it. This may or may not mean sleep on it but just means taking your mind off it and let the back of your head tick away on it. I think this might actually be the source of "eureka" moments too, which means flashes of ingenuity are not exactly what they seem!

RyanMcGreal• 13 years ago

I find a brisk walk, jog or bike ride in the middle of the day consistently boosts my productivity.

mistercow8• 13 years ago

Unless, of course, you're doing polyphasic sleep, in which case eh, maybe?

pstuart• 13 years ago

Every post I've seen about polyphasic sleep shows that it is not sustainable.

kvee• 13 years ago

So will it ever be possible to artificially produce these cells that go on to make myelin and reduce or eliminate the need for sleep?

mistercow8• 13 years ago

Maybe, but I doubt that will be sufficient. Evolution being the opportunistic bastard that it is, it seems likely that lots of little processes have hitched a ride on sleep. There may not be any single factor to take care of which eliminates the need for sleep entirely.

samatman• 13 years ago

I sure hope so. That's the key tech needed to treat multiple sclerosis, and I have several friends who are sufferers.

I doubt it would be sufficient in itself to reduce sleep needs, however. Our bodies are practically speaking modal organisms, and there's a lot we only do when sleeping.

11001• 13 years ago

Why tricking the nature is so often the first reaction of people around here?

Sleep helps replinsh brain cells - let's make a pill that does just that so we don't need to sleep as much! Vegitables are good for you - let's have a pill that has all their nutrients so we don't need to eat them! Exercise betters the mood - let's isolate those chemicals so we don't need to exercise! Being barefoot is good for you - let's all buy "barefoot shoes"!

I really don't get it. Why are people so averse to natural ways and ofetn simple moderation. I did not grow up in North America, so maybe it's just a cultural difference.

polskibus• 13 years ago

This is an important finding, not because it confirms something that seems obvious for many people (ie. prolonged sleep deprivation = worse performance), but because it can help change the dominant management style in companies. Overworking is a very old problem, but hopefully similar findings will boost the strength of counter arguments.

rbanffy• 13 years ago

I fear overworked managers will not be able to understand the issue.

kamjam• 13 years ago

Maybe after a good nights sleep...

Fishkins• 13 years ago

Although I agree management styles should change based on studies like this, I'm not optimistic they will (at least not very quickly). Evidence against the efficacy of long work weeks has been around for quite a while[0], but that doesn't seem to stop most managers from expecting employees to work more hours.

0: http://www.salon.com/2012/03/14/bring_back_the_40_hour_work_...

Sagat• 13 years ago

I learned early in life that it's better to work intensely and rest a lot than do more work of a lower quality. If you are sleep deprived you might miss insights and opportunities. Time is the most valuable resource in the universe: by staying awake longer you are not gaining time but shortening your available time pool in the long run.

w1ntermute• 13 years ago

I think everyone owes it to themselves to set aside a few weeks in which they go to sleep early enough that they wake up naturally every day. The feeling is amazing and it does wonders for your productivity.

Tarential• 13 years ago

It is so good for productivity that I've completely stopped using "staying up late" as a method to get things done. If I have a lot of work to do that's a good sign to get to bed early and start in the morning when I'm fresh.

Problems that I spend hours on the night before seem to solve themselves magically in minutes. After a while I got the hint: Just go to bed and sleep. You save time and feel better.

cyeah• 13 years ago

I have little time. I sometimes overwork one hour or more and I also have a long commute (between 1.30h - 2h). I sleep at least between four and five hours (except weekends). I work full-time and I'm studying a degree. If I don't do this, I don't have time for everything (see work, study, hobby projects). But it is true that I still feel so unproductive, I can't focus, or it takes me a while and I'm easily distracted, it takes me a long time to think of the correct way to structure a pattern or algorithm... I tried to sleep more, but I always end up feeling overwhelmed by all the tasks.

rafcavallaro• 13 years ago

Unless you are quite unusual, 4-5 hours sleep per day/night is low enough to be bad for your long term health.

see http://www.sleepfoundation.org/article/white-papers/how-much... for details.

mistercow8• 13 years ago

Is it possible for you to fit short naps (~20 minutes) into your schedule? Supposedly, if you practice napping regularly without letting yourself go over time, you will eventually get to the point that you can fall asleep quickly and immediately begin REM sleep.

Assuming that polyphasic sleep schedules are at least as effective as monophasic sleep, one such nap should be worth about an 1h20m of normal sleep. If you can fit even one in, and stick to taking it every day, it could be hugely beneficial. If you can manage to slip three of them in, you might be able to totally counteract the effects of your situation (although people seem to have trouble adopting polyphasic schedules that are designed to fit their schedule, rather than their circadian rhythm).

beachstartup2• 13 years ago

if you're feeling overwhelmed (these are your words), why are you doing so much?

seriously. why?

acuozzo2• 13 years ago

I challenge you to say this to a poverty-stricken single mother of a mentally-disabled child with no job prospects (due to not having any marketable skills, certifications, or degrees) and a mountain of debt left behind by a dead-beat husband who is incapable of providing child-support due to being an alcoholic bum with no job prospects of his own.

This is what my mother-in-law has to deal with every day.

Sometimes people "[do] so much" because they have no reasonable alternatives. Being overwhelmed is a fact of life for them.

shire• 13 years ago

The feeling of going to bed early and waking up with the sunrise is an amazing feeling. To be honest I don't know why we were created with a sleep function, we would get so much done without it. Imagine what mankind would achieve with an extra 12hours!

pm90• 13 years ago

Not much, since for the most part our ancestors did not have illumination at night

jpease• 13 years ago

My cats should have brains the size of large melons.

amerika_blog• 13 years ago

Sleep... what a great idea. Someday. It's on the to-do list.

Sleep 'boosts brain cell numbers'

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