Irregular Sleep Patterns Affect Academic Performance

The relationship between a stable sleep pattern and optimal academic performance is long a popular conception. It is well known that the better the quality of sleep, the more productivity there will be in academic disciplines as well as in sports and social settings. A paper published in the Journal of Psychosomatic Research, which focused on the benefits of this lifestyle, showed that better rest is associated with the favorable performance of our cognitive functions and learning processes.

Although the exact mechanisms behind sleep, memory, and neuroplasticity are still unknown, there is already prior knowledge that sleep plays a crucial role in memory consolidation. This is caused by the strengthening of cerebral synaptic connections during rest.

In addition to the research on the benefits of a healthy sleep routine, the aftermath of a contrary lifestyle has also been analyzed. A deficit in the rest causes damage in areas such as concentration, school performance, and socialization skills. This inconsistency is found regularly among adolescents and young adults who follow a propensity to sleep fewer hours during academic days and to overcompensate by sleeping too much on weekends. The effects behind this irregular and insufficient rest lead to an increase in fatigue and stress. Such is the damage that, according to the scientific journal Nature, it has been shown that a person who remains in a state of wakefulness for 17 hours without pause has the same cognitive performance as someone with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.05 percent.

Although this topic of interest has been analyzed for more than a century, the study conducted by MIT, published in Nature’s Science of Learning Journal, reveals surprising facts about the role of healthy rest in academic performance. Jeffrey Grossman, a teacher at this institution, provided a Fitbit, a device placed on the wrist to monitor personal activity, to 100 of his students in his class over an entire semester. The purpose was to compare the students’ school performance on exams with the data about each student’s sleep patterns.

The results of this research yielded data already predictable about the importance of a regular rest routine. Those students with the greatest inconsistency in their sleep patterns were associated with receiving lower grades, and students with the highest quality of rest had the best academic productivity. Therefore, the research disclosed that longer durations, quality, and consistency of rest are related to better school performance.

One of the most notable aspects of this research was the use of a quantifiable and objective alternative for the collection of sleep data, compared to other studies that had used alterable methods such as surveys and questionnaires. Thanks to these factors, relevant and new information about sleep and its effect on student performance have been obtained.

For example, it was discovered that an effort to rest properly the night before an exam had no relationship to the desired performance. “It turns out that this does not correlate at all with the student’s performance on the test,” Professor Grossman said. “Instead, what matters most is the sleep you get during the days when learning occurs.” Therefore, a healthy sleep pattern during the period in which the subjects being studied are analyzed is the relevant help factor for good cognitive and memory performance.

In addition, it was found that students who slept seven hours and sleep between 10 p.m. and 1 a.m. showed a better performance in school than those who slept the same number of hours but went to bed after 2 a.m.; the conclusion is that more than the quantity in sleep in hours, the quality of sleep is the decisive aspect.

The study, in addition to providing clarity about unknown areas of sleep and school performance, also provided relevant information about the difference in performance between men and women. It was found that of the male and female participants who were part of the research, women achieved higher academic grades. While some studies emphasize aspects such as self-discipline, this research suggests a necessary correction in sleep and encourages healthy rest even more among male students.

In response to the data produced by these research projects, a movement has been initiated that seeks to take steps to care for the sleep of students as well as their physical and mental health. Thus attention is now directed to this area of health previously relegated, so in some school districts such as California in the United States, school schedules have been modified to promote a better style and quality of life. This element, in its full development, would allow university students (and students at other school levels) to take control of their rest and, proportionately, their academic performance.

Paola Villafuerte

Share

This article from Observatory of the Institute for the Future of Education may be shared under the terms of the license CC BY-NC-SA 4.0