Is there a known reason why some people require more sleep to function?

May 12, 2021 3:23 PM

I'm wondering if there's a protein or something that is less abundant in such people.

Everyone's cognition slows down when they are sleep deprived, but some suffer from the deprivation more than others. When I'm short on sleep I really struggle with basic problem solving in a way that others around me who are also short on sleep don't seem to. I first noticed this in college where there were some folks who were somehow able to go to school full time AND work full time and doing relatively well at both. I on the other hand could barely just do school by itself full time and get all the sleep I needed to be able to think straight. I'm still the same way. I get almost scary stupid when I'm even a couple of hours short. I don't know if that means I'll have dimentia when I'm older.

posted by fantasticness to Science & Nature (5 answers total)

It seems likely that there are genetic factors associated with reduced need for sleep, but the mutations found so far are all so rare that there's likely some other explanation for the vast majority of examples.

I know that for me,my need for sleep has increased with age. I was actually just thinking about this recently. In college, for example, I could stay up all night studying or dicking around, go to class the next day, and feel mostly fine, although I was definitely not at my sharpest with no sleep. I'd feel tired, but it was like I could push through. Now that I'm in my 30s, if I don't get at least 6 hours, and ideally more like 8, I feel like hot garbage physically and my mental acuity is reduced so much that it's not even worth it.

I think some people are just better at ignoring discomfort, as well. They might feel just as crappy as the rest of us normalos without enough sleep, but they are simply better at grinning and bearing it. I also think it's a matter of habituation. New parents, night shift workers, surgeons, and all sorts of other people are accustomed to never getting enough decent sleep. I feel like at some point, your body just gives up and decides to either break down completely or work with what you're giving it.

My hunch is that there are lots of genetic factors that make some people more tolerant of insufficient sleep.
posted by easy, lucky, free at 3:36 PM on May 12, 2021

2019: U.C.S.F. researchers find a gene for flourishing with less shut-eye / Gene identified in people who need little sleep / Mutant neuropeptide S receptor reduces sleep duration with preserved memory consolidation
posted by Iris Gambol at 5:10 PM on May 12, 2021

Anecdotally, my grandfather slept 4 - 4.5 hours per night and was extremely productive as well as sharp as a tack until he died at the age of 85. When asked, he would say, "Augie my boy, I sleep fast."

I sleep about 6 hours a night. I sleep medium fast.
posted by AugustWest at 5:39 PM on May 12, 2021

You can think of sleep as a clean-up process going on in both your brain and your mind. You clean up at a certain rate, and if you don't get enough sleep, you start the day with some accumulated cruft.

Right now, either your cleanup process is slower going than the people to whom you are comparing yourself, or whatever requires cleanup is in greater amount.

You shouldn't draw any conclusions about yourself, though, because your ability to sleep changes throughout your life. You just deal with whatever comes in.

If you want, you can get a referral to a sleep medicine specialist, who may have advice. You can also learn about sleep hygiene, to improve the process of falling asleep.
posted by Sunburnt at 6:46 PM on May 12, 2021

There is no scientific consensus as to why we sleep. We know about how we sleep in some detail (the neurobiology and biochemistry of it) but from both an evolutionary and physiological standpoint, the reason for and function of sleep remains an open question.
posted by mr_roboto at 6:48 PM on May 12, 2021