AAI Ahead of the research Curve

AAI has been driving this sleep agenda with top athletes for two years and our reaction timing studies that we have done on top athletes, conclude that sleep is clearly a predictor of performance in any skill based sport. Cheri Mah from Stanford University did the pilot studies with athletes and we simply did the same with the elite population. Same impact and results. A rested CNS and brain can function… a highly fatigued one cannot.

Rachael Rettner
LiveScience Staff Writer
LiveScience.com rachael Rettner
livescience Staff Writer
livescience.com – Wed Jan 13, 2:16 pm ET

If you think staying in bed on the weekends will make up for a weeks’ worth of sleep deprivation, think again. A new study finds that going long periods without sleep can lead to a sort of “sleep debt” that cannot simply be undone with a little extra snoozing from time to time.

Such chronic sleep loss may eventually interfere with a person’s performance on tasks that require focus, becoming particularly noticeable at nighttime when the body’s natural sleep-wake cycle isn’t giving you an extra boost.

Anyone who’s ever pulled an all-nighter knows how debilitating sleep loss can be in the short term. Indeed, studies show that after 24 hours without sleep, a person’s performance can drop to the level of someone who is legally drunk.

But what about if those all-nighters turned into all-weekers? The authors of the current study turned their attention to long-term sleep loss, and examined whether the effects of such constant sleep deprivation could be erased with an extended resting period. (more…)