Leo Sher, M.D.

We try to get everything done. We do not have enough time to sleep. In a recently published study, after five days with only four hours of sleep, a 10-hour sleep remedied some of the harmful effects of chronic sleep restriction. However, even after an extended sleep, participants still experienced lapses of attention and delayed reaction times. This indicates that staying in bed on the weekend might not be enough to make up for a weeks’ worth of sleep deprivation. This study also suggests that complete recovery from sustained sleep restriction may require even more sleep during one night or multiple nights of extended sleep.