I’ve written several posts on this blog, and in my upcoming book, about how I try to help my students gain a greater understanding of why it’s important to get enough sleep. You can read more about this at The Best Resources For Helping Teens Learn About The Importance Of Sleep.
Some important studies came out this week, and I’ll be adding them to my lessons (and I’ll share what I do on this blog). Here they are:
As We Sleep, Speedy Brain Waves Boost Our Ability to Learn is the title of a report in Science Daily. The study identified what they called “sleep spindles” as a key element in learning and remembering. One of the researchers went on to say:
“A lot of that spindle-rich sleep is occurring the second half of the night, so if you sleep six hours or less, you are shortchanging yourself. You will have fewer spindles, and you might not be able to learn as much.”
Another new study, also reported by Science Daily, documented the negative impact the use of electronic devices has on sleep, particularly on young people:
Artificial light exposure between dusk and the time we go to bed at night suppresses release of the sleep-promoting hormone melatonin, enhances alertness and shifts circadian rhythms to a later hour — making it more difficult to fall asleep,” says Charles Czeisler, PhD, MD, Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “This study reveals that light-emitting screens are in heavy use within the pivotal hour before sleep. Invasion of such alerting technologies into the bedroom may contribute to the high proportion of respondents who reported that they routinely get less sleep than they need.
This information will be a great addition to my lessons.