The effects on cognition of sleeping 4 hours per night for 12-14 days

Re:The effects on cognition of sleeping 4 hours per night fo... by ping_pong on Monday May 18, 2020 @06:09PM (#23228969)

I discovered that about 1/3 of people can be sleep deprived without any ill effects, which is the bucket I fall in. Another 1/3 will be disgruntled but can function at a lower level, but for the last 1/3, it's catastrophic and can't function at all. That's my wife, and what exemplified this the most was after having kids. She was almost immediately a wreck but I was able to hold together with the lack of sleep and spent most of the time being the caregiver for our kids during the toughest parts of the night.

Previous, I had another incident of sleep where I got 4-5 hours of sleep a day for about a year, and then it all came crashing down on me eventually.

About 10 years ago, I was doing algorithmic trading globally and would sometimes watch my trades until 1-2am, and then wake up at 6am to be ready for US trading. I was doing fine with no problems from lack of sleep, and then one day after about a year I stopped being able to think clearly. I was having real trouble thinking or learning new things and had a bad headache. I went to my doctor and she immediately scheduled an MRI because she thought I might have a brain tumor. I was scared shitless, but I was able to get the MRI the next day. After the results came back negative for brain tumor, I thought maybe it's sleep, so I left work in the middle of the day and fell asleep and slept for about 16 hours. I realized right there and then I was sleep deprived, so I stopped trading immediately and focused on trying to sleep properly.

These days I need close to 7.5 hrs of sleep a day and if I get less, I'll feel it pretty quickly as opposed to 10 years ago when I felt nothing.

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Re:The effects on cognition of sleeping 4 hours per night fo... by mattlondon on Monday May 18, 2020 @06:18PM (#23229046)

Almost exactly the same experience here with me Vs my wife with children. She needs at least one or two significant maps and an early bedtime or she simply just cannot function, but I seem to be able to handle it a bit better.

I wonder if it is a gender thing, or a coincidence?

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Re:The effects on cognition of sleeping 4 hours per night fo... by globular-toast on Tuesday May 19, 2020 @06:53AM (#23233463)

I have read studies that say men benefit more from micro-napping and therefore can handle shorter nights as long as they can micro-nap. I sleep significantly shorter nights than my girlfriend. She can sleep for 10-12 hours every night. I only sleep for 7-8 which means I go to sleep 2-3 hours after her. But I do micro-nap sometimes. If she naps it's for a long time, usually because of lack of sleep the night before. She is younger than me, and when I was younger I used to want to sleep for 10 hours or more, but when I did it messed up my sleeping pattern (gave me a >24 hour rhythm). So I'm inclined to think she really does need more sleep at night than me.

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Re:The effects on cognition of sleeping 4 hours per night fo... by ping_pong on Monday May 18, 2020 @11:18PM (#23230990)

I don't think sex matters, it's simply how someone is wired.

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Re:The effects on cognition of sleeping 4 hours per night fo... by asdff on Monday May 18, 2020 @08:53PM (#23230176)

I think it depends on conditioning. I've always had to work nights while in high school and college, so I never really could get enough sleep during those years no matter how much joy and happiness I abstained from to make more time. As a result, I get by OK on 5 hours if behind the gun on a deadline, but even if I make time to sleep in I might only get 7 hours total.

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Re:The effects on cognition of sleeping 4 hours per night fo... by ping_pong on Monday May 18, 2020 @11:18PM (#23230988)

No, it has nothing to do with conditioning. It's just how people are wired. Some people cannot handle lack of sleep, and it doesn't really show until they have prolonged sleep deprivation like when they have kids.

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Re:The effects on cognition of sleeping 4 hours per night fo... by yovagoyu on Monday May 18, 2020 @10:02PM (#23230598)

Does your wife agree that sleep deprivation has no effect on you?

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Re:The effects on cognition of sleeping 4 hours per night fo... by ping_pong on Monday May 18, 2020 @11:17PM (#23230983)

Seeing as I lived about a year on 4 hours sleep, yes. And most especially during the time we had infants, it made a huge difference.

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