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Numerous studies have shown that lack of sleep hurts—it can lead to weight gain, diseases, and of course weakened cognitive functioning. But a bad night’s sleep doesn’t hurt everyone equally. Unlike me, some people can think clearly no matter what. A study published June 24th in The Journal of Neuroscience helps explain why.
Scientists looked for a genetic marker called Period 3 known to predict the effects of sleep deprivation. People with short versions of the gene do okay when they lose sleep. But the longer gene leads to suffering with lack of sleep.
Researchers tested attention and cognition before and after both good and bad nights’ sleeps. Those with the long Period 3 had poor function in the part of the brain that would usually spring to life. Even after a decent night, the long-gene people had reduced brain activity towards the end of the day. But folks with the short gene did better, and their brains even pulled in extra assistance from surrounding brain areas. I can guess which variation of the gene I have—which means not only should I get a good’s night sleep, I should probably write my scripts in the morning.
—Cynthia Graber
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16 Comments
Add CommentFirst time commenting on a blog. So, this topic really relates to me because I've always wondered why I function better with less sleep. When I sleep between 4-6 hours a night I wake up in an AMAZING mood, I am so much more alert and everything seems to be better throughout the day. I do not like naps, do not like to nap at all. When I ride the bus or sit down it's as if I am "recharging." I will relax and if I am tired get up and be completely alert and like I'm starting over. I do not know if it is a gene thing or what? Any comment for me?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI see this in my own family: my oldest daughter and I suffer through lack of sleep, whereas my youngest daughter and wife are much less affected by sleep deprivation. However, my youngest daughter and I are both "evening people" (we don't like mornings but are alert well into late evening), whereas my oldest daughter and wife are both "morning people". This suggests the statement "even after a decent night, the long-gene people had reduced brain activity towards the end of the day" may be oversimplified.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisRight, your subjective view on your families behaviour probably suggests that the scientific article may be erroneous. Under this twisted but sadly prevalent view, it must carry no risk to eat raw cookie dough because my grandmother has regularly done just that for most of her 60+ years of life.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisLook up some actually facts and then you can legitimately dispute claims.
I would like to know what my Period 3 looks like. From the early 1970's through 1999 I slept 4 to 5 hours a night. In 1993 I stayed up 14 days straight with little or no consequence. My parents and siblings slept very little as well.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisJoseph, I think that aquin has just reported a fact, even if the size of the sample is small.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNo scientific theory may ignore a fact that contradicts or modifies it.
If it did, we would still have Newtonian gravity.
Joseph: Interesting comment, if somewhat aggressive. I read between the lines and interpreted your position as "anecdotal evidence is no substitute for peer-reviewed science", with which I totally agree. I do not dispute the claim about the Period 3 gene and sleep deprivation -- I only questioned the correlation between "long-gene people" and "reduced brain activity towards the end of the day", which, in my family at least, does not seem to hold for at least one of us (me).
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisRalph: Well said.
Aw, Davek01521, you should have hung for another 13 hours! You would have set the world record.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe longest recorded period for which a person has voluntarily gone without sleep is 449 hrs (14 days 13 hours) by Mrs. Maureen Weston of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire in a rocking chair marathon on 14 Apr.-2 May 1977. Though she tended to hallucinate toward the end of this surely ill-advised test, she surprisingly suffered no lasting ill effects.
This is interesting. I work nights and currently am on my 90th day in a row wihtout a day off and without sleeping at night. I wonder if this has anything to do with getting sleep at night? I know the studies say it does matter what time of day you sleep but I wonder how period3 effects night shift workers? I know alot of people cannot work nights, they seriously have difficulty working nights. I dont but I do not dream or at least remember my dreams when I work nights. Sry rambling but wondering where to find more discussion on this topic? I get all the news clippings from my mother about how the night shift is bad for me and not getting enough sleep is unhealthy but I have been getting little sleep for 14 years now and I am healthy as ever. Just have not heard of this period3 before and it is interesting to nightshifters and sleep deprived people like me.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAquinn, how do you know what version of the period 3 gene you, your wife, and your daughters have? Also, the article did not mention heredity so there is no indication if this is a dominant / recessive trait or a blended trait or some hybrid. The article could be spot on and you could be just blind what variant of the genes you and your family memebers possess and how you are reacting to them.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI do not believe anecdoatal evidence can be subsituted for fact, We are often blind to many, many variables in the anecdotes that make up our "evidence". That is why we do scientific studies and review them to add an extra step to help ensure the study was good. It is not perfect, but usually far better than a general observation (which may be a starting point). If you believe you have something which bears looking at, you need to study it in a controlled environment using the scientific method.
I prefer to read the journal article for myself in addition to the news reports on it. Could we please have links?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt's easy enough for a journalist to make links to the article and related ones, or at least to name the researchers and article being discussed.
"Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging-Assessed Brain Responses during an Executive Task Depend on Interaction of Sleep Homeostasis, Circadian Phase, and PER3 Genotype"
by Gilles Vandewalle, et al.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19553435
This full article is not available for free, but a number other ones on sleep deprivation and PER3 are:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=pmc&cmd=search&term=PER3%20polymorphism
Blechten: Quite right, I do not know for sure if I have long or short Period 3 (PER3). However, like the author of this article, "I can guess which variation of the gene I have" based on my behaviour (I do not cope well with sleep deprivation). I can also guess which variation my wife and daughters have based on their behaviour. As for heredity, I did not suggest that my daughters' reaction to sleep deprivation is inherited. If my guess is correct that I have long PER3, then the correlation between "long-gene people" and "reduced brain activity towards the end of the day" does not hold for me at least (I'm assuming here that my interpretation of "towards the end of the day" is the same as the authors' and that I'm not deluding myself about my brain activity in the evening). This may suggest that the correlation between the length of PER3 and evening brain activity is overstated, or it may simply mean that I have the less vulnerable genotype (short PER3) and that some other gene or genes accounts for my sensitivity to sleep deprivation. Given that most human behaviours involve a complex interplay of genes and environment, I would not be surprised to find that there is more to sleep deprivation sensitivity than PER3. However, as you say, in the absence of scientific evidence none of this undermines the conclusions of the study that PER3 polymorphisms can be used to predict the effects of sleep deprivation.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt's so obvious that some people are worse clobbered by sleep loss than others--and it's validating to learn that this isn't a matter of attitude or character, as those of us who need more sleep have often been told. As an insomniac, I'm often told, "you don't need as much sleep as you think you do; your problem is attitude." Actually, I know how much sleep I need. Gayle Greene, author INSOMNIAC; sleepstarved.org
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt's so obvious that some people have a harder time with sleep loss than others--and it's validating to learn that this isn't a matter of attitude or character, as those of us who need 7 hours sleep have often been told. As an insomniac, I get these dumb reassurances from doctors, "you probably don't need any more sleep than 4-5 hours; you have an attitude problem" --like I'm avoiding my life. Actually, I know how much sleep I need and wrote INSOMNIAC to argue that these differences among people are hard-wired. The science is bearing me out. Gayle Greene, sleepstarved.org
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisi think i still don't understand this report clearly.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAs the research indicates,people with short PER3 gene usually functions better after some day's lack of sleep.however,i still wonder if this report covers the lont-term effect of sleep deprivation.As most theories goes, sleep for less than 6 hours a day, even for adults, could be harmful to one's health. If this research is accurate, does it mean that the shorter PER3 gene could reduce or completely eleminate the effect of sleep deprivation or it can just help you function well in a couple of days?
i saw this documentary on "my shocking stories" about Fatal Familial Insomnia you should look it up its on you tube even
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIM CURIOUS could there be a way ti catalyze the mechanisms in our brain that must be carried out to achieve adequate sleep!???!?!?!?! that would be insane! Productivity would sky rocket we could just nap an hour or two a night and get back to it haha
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