The brain actually needs 4+ hours at a minimum to function properly. And that is proper sleep cycle sleep with periods of deep sleep in between cycles of dream sleep (REM). The 'normal' person actually needs 6-8 to function on a regular basis and for good brain health. If you go for periods where the brain is unable to properly rest, you will start to loose focus sooner and eventually face the potential of hallucinations as the areas of your brain get backlogged with thoughts and images.
The function of sleep is actually to allow the area of your brain that handles all your cognitive thought to clear out all the memories it has pulled from your long term memory and to file them back in your long term memory. Without the rest periods, eventually that part of your brain is unable to receive new inputs, both from your senses and from your long term memory, so it essentially shuts down.
People can function on just a couple of hours of sleep, for a very short period of time, but eventually the sleep deprivation will force you to sleep. The average person can go about 72-96 hours without sleep, but by the end of that window they will be mentally worthless and incapable of making a sound decision.
I was diagnosed with insomnia more than 20 years ago so I don't get much sleep. According to the sleep tracker on my fitbit I averge about 3 hours per night. Usually at least once every week I go an entire night without any sleep and I can't remember the last time I slept more than 6 hours.
I can function for about 3-4 days without sleep but I avoid driving after about 48 hours just in case. The longest I ever went without sleep was 5 and a half days but the last 30 hours of that I was admitted into the hospital for exhaustion.
9 comments
Latest
My work ethic is steel ...c u in a few yrs supreme court
The function of sleep is actually to allow the area of your brain that handles all your cognitive thought to clear out all the memories it has pulled from your long term memory and to file them back in your long term memory. Without the rest periods, eventually that part of your brain is unable to receive new inputs, both from your senses and from your long term memory, so it essentially shuts down.
People can function on just a couple of hours of sleep, for a very short period of time, but eventually the sleep deprivation will force you to sleep. The average person can go about 72-96 hours without sleep, but by the end of that window they will be mentally worthless and incapable of making a sound decision.
I can function for about 3-4 days without sleep but I avoid driving after about 48 hours just in case. The longest I ever went without sleep was 5 and a half days but the last 30 hours of that I was admitted into the hospital for exhaustion.