Sleep Deprivation with Dr. Paul Whitney

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

00:00:36

Episode introduction: Sleep Deprivation with Dr. Paul Whitney.
00:01:54

This Week In Neuroscience: Incidence of dementia in urban versus rural areas.
00:05:05

5-Star review shoutouts.
00:05:45

SDS news and updates.
00:07:52

Guest introduction: Dr. Paul Whitney.
00:08:55

Interview begins.
00:10:40

How the brain behaves when you are asleep.
00:12:25

Sleep deprivation and sustained attention.
00:13:35

The more subtle effects of sleep deprivation.
00:15:10

Differences between acute sleep deprivation versus on-going sleep deprivation.
00:17:32

Growing public awareness about the importance of sleep and factors that work against people acting on this increased awareness.
00:19:06

Naps and sleep hygiene.
00:20:38

Individual differences in the effects of fatigue and sleep loss.
00:22:45

Sleep deprivation and mood.
00:23:37

The Task Impurity Problem.
00:25:55

Genetic variations in resilience and vulnerability to sleep deprivation on particular tasks.
00:27:26

Frontal striatal pathway and cognitive control.
00:31:23

The three possible variations of DRD2.
00:34:25

The Psychomotor Vigilance Test (PVT) and sleep deprivation.
00:36:17

Baseline metabolic measures and other indicators of getting sleepy.
00:38:40

Local Use Theory and the selectivity of sleep deprivation effects.
00:39:58

Dr. Whitney's final comments and advice on sleep deprivation.
00:42:55

Morning people and evening people.
00:43:49

Interview wrap-up.
00:44:40

Ruthless Listener Retention Gimmick: Sleep in sea elegan worms.
00:47:40

Episode wrap-up.