According to a recent study, women need more sleep in comparison to men. As found by the researchers from Duke University, women experience more mental and physical consequences from inadequate sleep, when compared to men. This means that apart from giving half the population a legitimate reason to sleep in, the study also suggests that women are more likely to experience depression, psychological problems, and heart disease.
The study was led by Michael Breus, clinical psychologist and sleep expert. The need for sleep of both male and female participants was tested by evaluating their ability to handle lack of sleep. As Breus stated, the findings of the study indicated a huge difference between genders. He adds: “We found that women had more depression, women had more anger, and women had more hostility early in the morning.”
Who Needs How Much?
Even though there are numerous biological factors that contribute to this imbalance between genders, many experts believe that mental energy expenditure is the main cause that makes the difference. As they say, women tend to use their brain much more in comparison to men.
The main function of sleep is allowing the brain to rest, recover, and repair itself. Once we enter a deep sleep, the cortex (outer layer of the cerebrum) which is responsible for memory, language, and thought, absolves from the senses and goes into recovery mode. According to Jim Horne, the director of the Sleep Research Center at Loughborough University in England, “The more of your brain you use during the day, the more of it that needs to recover and, consequently, the more sleep you need. Women tend to multi-task — they do lots at once and are flexible — and so they use more of their actual brain than men do.”
This leads us to the conclusion that if men used their brains more during the day, they will also need additional few hours of sleep. Horne adds: “A man who has a complex job that involves a lot of decision-making and lateral thinking may also need more sleep than the average male — though probably still not as much as a woman.”
The Science of Sleep
This study led by Breus adds to a growing number of scientific investigations into the health consequences of sleep deprivation. A group of researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine recently published a paper in which they show a link between sleep deprivation and accelerated skin aging. Other studies link the poor sleeping patterns to an increased risk of stroke, heart disease, psychiatric issues, and blood clots.
It was found that an average American adult needs 7-9 hours of sleep every day. This means that actually 80% of the population fails in fulfilling this quota. You are recommended to visit The National Sleep Foundation`s online resources in order to learn more about sleep, its importance, and the way you can improve your sleeping patterns.
