Students planning a long snooze during Spring Break may returnto classes with renewed creativity and problem solving skills, arecent sleep study found.
In the study, conducted by University of Luebeck in Germany,researchers presented participants with simple math problems, whichincluded hidden shortcuts to find the answer. Participants who hadreceived adequate amounts of sleep were nearly three times morelikely to discover the shortcut compared to their sleep-deprivedcounterparts.
University of Memphis students who aren't getting enough sleepmay be operating on a "sleep debt" -- a theoretical system in thebrain, which keeps track of sleep deprivation, researcherssaid.
"It's a cumulative debt," said Sid Nau, sleep specialist workingon The U of M Sleep Research Project. "You can't cancel it out.Students can catch up and cancel out most of the debt by sleepingon the weekends, but they can never cancel it out entirely."
There is some forgiveness built into the system, Nau said,adding that college students often run on an above-average sleepdebt.
Senior music business major Kyle Bolden is one of thosestudents.
"I think sleep is essential," Bolden said. "But there'ssomething about college. You just don't get enough sleep."
Although sleep amounts needed per individual can vary, theprocess that increases creativity occurs during the deep sleepcycle, which occurs during the first four hours of sleep, said JanBorn, leading researcher of the German study.
Decreases in deep sleep can decrease memory function and theability to recognize hidden structures, Born told the AssociatedPress.
The brain can "find tricks" to defy sleep loss and continues tomake decisions and solve complicated problems, said researcher HansVan Dongen.
However, students cannot train their bodies to function aseffectively as normal on less sleep, Nau said.
Many scientists believe a sleepy brain can experience"microsleeps" -- periods of seconds when the brain refuses toprocess information.
Thus, students who rely on all-night cramming to pass majorexams may do better on exams by getting adequate amounts ofsleep.
"Cramming tends not to do students any good," said psychologyprofessor Charles Long. "The ability to recall material depends onstudents' mood and level of wakefulness."
Yet students like junior communications major Erik Morrisoncontinue to cram into the wee hours of the morning before bigexams.
"I study until 3 or 4 in the morning for a big test," Morrisonsaid. "I think sleep is very important, but sometimes I can't getit."
Like some U of M students, however, sophomore biology majorAndrew Tobias, remains a little more realistic when it comes tostudying for major exams.
"I try to study the week before, but the night before I'mcramming until 1 or 2 in the morning. I don't normally get to beduntil then anyway, so it doesn't matter."
However, students like freshman music education major JamesRobinson have found other reasons to stay awake.
"For the past four nights, I haven't been going to sleep until 5a.m. because I play for the band Nujynisis," Robinson said. "Sleep?I don't get it. What is it?"
