BYU NewsNet - Tired? Take a Nap

During the final two weeks of his internship at the Utah Legislature, Graham Kirkman slept five hours a night. It wasn't enough.

"It led to increased sickness," he said. "I'd feel disoriented and weak in the morning, and my soda consumption increased dramatically. I drank a lot of Coke."

Most students have dealt with either sporadic or sustained sleep deprivation at some point but may cope with it in different ways. Some students fight it and others drink caffeine. Others take a nap - in class, in the library or even in the bathroom.

Whatever popular opinion of napping may be, a recent study provides evidence that perhaps more people should be joining in.

The Journal of Sleep Research recently published a study of college students that shows even short naps help brain activity. Participants learned 30 new words and were tested on memory retention one hour later after taking either a 35-minute nap, a six-minute nap or no nap. Those who napped produced better memory retention than participants who didn't, even at the six-minute level. Those who napped for 35-minutes scored the best.

"Regardless of one's interpretation of the results, the experimental benefit of napping seems clear," wrote Jessica Payne and Matthew Walker of Harvard and the University of California at Berkeley, in reaction to the study on their science blog, Mind Matters. "This finding should come as good news for those of us who feel guilty or lazy for napping - an unfortunate reflection of a society out of touch with our basic biological needs."

The average American slept six hours and 40 minutes last night according to the latest National Sleep Foundation poll. The foundation advises seven to nine hours a night is ideal. However, most Americans are not sleeping enough, and university students are hardly the exemptions. It is a pattern that starts for many in high school.

"In the years I taught high school, almost all of my students said they felt sleep deprived," said Cougar Hall, a faculty member of the College of Health and Human Performance. "When you are sleep deprived it is hard to process new information. I'd try to teach but their only goal was to stay awake until school ended."

If students are too tired to pick up anything while studying, Hall said they shouldn't fight it but instead take a quick nap to increase productivity.

About three times a week, sophomore Darren Lofgreen finds himself studying on campus in the Lee Library until the midnight music pushes him out, a schedule that leaves him little rest before his early morning classes.

He said he gets "almost enough" sleep and tries to make up for it on weekends. In the meantime, naps help.

"If I don't get a nap and try to study accounting, I fall asleep," Lefgreen said. "When I wake up I feel it wasn't long enough but after a few hours I feel rejuvenated - it makes a difference."

Sophie Hill, a senior majoring in integrative biology, said short naps help her make up for only sleeping six to seven hours a night.

"After a five- to 10-minute nap I am totally ready to go again," she said. "It makes a huge difference."

While naps can be a short-term fix, doctors don't say they can replace deep sleep or make up for chronic sleep deprivation. Payne and Walker emphasized how important sleep is to one's overall health, observing that "sleep is so essential that animals will die as quickly from sleep deprivation as they will from food deprivation."

For those suffering from sleep deprivation not caused by their lifestyle, it may be because of a sleep disorder such as sleep apnea or insomnia. A specialist can diagnose a sleep disorder through clinical tests at a place such as the University of Utah's Sleep-Wake Center.

For more information on the Sleep Wake Center, call 581-2016 or visit its Web site: www.uuhsc.utah.edu/sleepcenter.