If you did fine without it, they wouldn’t call it “Deprivation”
We live in a 24/7/365 go-go-go culture. And, admittedly, there’s a lot to look at. But taken to the extreme, the whack-a-mole nature of demands on our attention leads to cutting back on one all-too-compressible block on our schedule: the amount of sleep we get daily.
Sleep Deprivation is a major, global, and growing problem. You’ve seen the articles about going without sleep “being like you’re drunk” and weakening cognitive performance in a way that is difficult to recover from.
But — as Professor Paul Whitney explains:
“Sleep deprivation is not a blunt instrument.”
Not all areas of the brain are equally affected, nor all our abilities when we’re sleepy. (In some cases, there may even be upsides. See Episode #91.)
Dr. Whitney, from Washington State University, studies the fine-grained details about a lack of sleep’s effects on vigilance, psychomotor performance, situational awareness, mood, and a variety of other factor which don’t always move in lockstep.
- What should you absolutely avoid doing while over-tired?
- What can you possibly get away with?
- How do naps stack up against night-time sleep?
- What does sleepiness do to our emotions?
- And on the grand scale of Big Problems, just how big a problem is having a sleepy public?
I’m tempted to say “this interview is worth staying up for”… but I won’t. Instead, give a listen once you’re wide awake and can be ready to deal with any surprising detours. 😉
Not science, but fun
In the Ruthless Listener Retention Gimmick, I mentioned this creepy Halloween-esque story that cropped up in our sleep deprivation research. Good for watching alone late at night in a graveyard, if you’re into that sort of thing. The Russian Sleep Experiment
Show Notes
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00:00:36
Episode introduction: Sleep Deprivation with Dr. Paul Whitney.
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00:01:54
This Week In Neuroscience: Incidence of dementia in urban versus rural areas.
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00:05:05
5-Star review shoutouts.
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00:05:45
SDS news and updates.
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00:07:52
Guest introduction: Dr. Paul Whitney.
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00:08:55
Interview begins.
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00:10:40
How the brain behaves when you are asleep.
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00:12:25
Sleep deprivation and sustained attention.
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00:13:35
The more subtle effects of sleep deprivation.
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00:15:10
Differences between acute sleep deprivation versus on-going sleep deprivation.
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00:17:32
Growing public awareness about the importance of sleep and factors that work against people acting on this increased awareness.
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00:19:06
Naps and sleep hygiene.
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00:20:38
Individual differences in the effects of fatigue and sleep loss.
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00:22:45
Sleep deprivation and mood.
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00:23:37
The Task Impurity Problem.
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00:25:55
Genetic variations in resilience and vulnerability to sleep deprivation on particular tasks.
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00:27:26
Frontal striatal pathway and cognitive control.
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00:31:23
The three possible variations of DRD2.
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00:34:25
The Psychomotor Vigilance Test (PVT) and sleep deprivation.
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00:36:17
Baseline metabolic measures and other indicators of getting sleepy.
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00:38:40
Local Use Theory and the selectivity of sleep deprivation effects.
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00:39:58
Dr. Whitney's final comments and advice on sleep deprivation.
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00:42:55
Morning people and evening people.
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00:43:49
Interview wrap-up.
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00:44:40
Ruthless Listener Retention Gimmick: Sleep in sea elegan worms.
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00:47:40
Episode wrap-up.