Re:Is surviving on 20-minute naps bad for you?
by ska on Wednesday May 13, 2015 @12:51PM
(#9540242)
It seems more likely that we are all biologically predisposed to function badly on such a schedule.
Some people probably deal with the deficits better than others, but all of the "positive" results from something that extreme I've heard of are subjective and self-reported, so not worth much as evidence. There is, however, lots of empirical data about loss of cognitive function due to sleep deprivation; to be fair I don't think any of the studies I've seen targeted precisely that (self imposed, cyclic) sort of pattern. On the other hand, none of that research suggests a good outcome would be expected. I'm not referring to all sleep patterns here, just those that rely on very short cycles, e.g. 20 min.
Some people probably deal with the deficits better than others, but all of the "positive" results from something that extreme I've heard of are subjective and self-reported, so not worth much as evidence. There is, however, lots of empirical data about loss of cognitive function due to sleep deprivation; to be fair I don't think any of the studies I've seen targeted precisely that (self imposed, cyclic) sort of pattern. On the other hand, none of that research suggests a good outcome would be expected. I'm not referring to all sleep patterns here, just those that rely on very short cycles, e.g. 20 min.