early birds vs night owls

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ruiner Member
Registered: 2009-08-20 Posts: 751

http://www.scientificamerican.com/artic … ay-up-late - Early Risers Crash Faster Than People Who Stay Up Late

"Early birds may get the best worms—or at least the best garage sale deals—but they also tire out more quickly than night owls do. In a new study researchers Christina Schmidt and Philippe Peigneux, both at the University of Liège in Belgium, and their colleagues first asked 16 extreme early risers and 15 extreme night owls to spend a week following their natural sleep schedule. Then subjects spent two nights in a sleep lab, where they again followed their preferred sleep patterns and underwent cognitive testing twice daily while in a functional MRI scanner.

An hour and a half after waking, early birds and night owls were equally alert and showed no difference in attention-related brain activity. But after being awake for 10 and a half hours, night owls had grown more alert, performing better on a reaction-time task requiring sustained attention and showing increased activity in brain areas linked to attention. More important, these regions included the suprachiasmatic area, which is home to the body’s circadian clock. This area sends signals to boost alertness as the pressure to sleep mounts. Unlike night owls, early risers didn’t get this late-day lift. Peigneux says faster activation of sleep pressure appears to prevent early birds from fully benefiting from the circadian signal, as evening types do."

Last edited by ruiner (2009 September 10, 5:10 pm)

Codexus Member
From: Switzerland Registered: 2007-11-27 Posts: 721

Waking up early sucks hmm

ropsta Member
From: 闇の底 Registered: 2009-07-23 Posts: 253

Save a worm. Wake up late.

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sup3rbon Member
From: northeast USA Registered: 2009-06-27 Posts: 71

Every single time someone would tell me "you can't be staying up so late and waking up so late" (I was staying up until 7am and waking up around 3pm) I would always try to explain that it's better for me and I can get so much more stuff done.  Then they would start talking about circadian rhythms and how that's impossible blah blah blah.

I'm starting to get tired of being right all the time *sigh*

blackmacros Member
From: Australia Registered: 2009-04-14 Posts: 763

sup3rbon wrote:

I'm starting to get tired of being right all the time *sigh*

It truly is a burden, is it not?

heromode Member
From: 豪州 Registered: 2009-04-11 Posts: 33

Ok. So they get an evening boost. What about the hours they waste during the morning?

I prefer to wake early and go to sleep when I get tired. I find I'm more productive when I'm getting progressively less tired. When I'm winding down, the last thing I want to do is something that requires mental effort. Trying to read dense material late at night is like taking a sleep pill smile

Furthermore, does the study even mention exercise and diet? They are two maaaajor influences on just how good your sleep is.

It also doesn't mention the fact that night owls miss out on a lot of sunlight, which happens to be pretty important for staving of things like depression.

sup3rbon Member
From: northeast USA Registered: 2009-06-27 Posts: 71

It said in the article that both groups took about an hour and a half after waking up to get their minds into working shape, so I don't think there was any time wasted in the morning for either group.  It's just that the morning's were in different places.

As for the other things, it doesn't mention whether they were regulated or not, so I'm not sure how all that sorts out in the end, but I can assure you that not being exposed to much sunlight didn't affect me emotionally at all during the summer.  Rather, I enjoy the dark peace and quiet of the night.  There's nothing more relaxing than smoking a fine cigar on a midnight walk.

theasianpleaser Member
From: 神戸市 Registered: 2008-09-04 Posts: 231

I prefer waking up early because for some reason no trains go by my apartment between 4 and 5:30 AM.

Also, half of the apartment building's roof is my second balcony and it faces east so I can see the sunrise at 5 AM.

Yeah Japanese apartment!

thorstenu Member
From: Germany Registered: 2008-12-22 Posts: 99

Ego booster for night owls? At least there seems to be a connection to my Japanese studies:
http://smart.fm/image/7421
http://www.scientificamerican.com/artic … ay-up-late

undead_saif Member
From: Mother Earth Registered: 2009-01-28 Posts: 635

From my experience, nothing beats studying at dusk, it's hard to sleep early and wake up early, but when done, I found that I become much efficient. I love the fresh early morning air! big_smile

And in the "night owls" mode, I'm off all the day until night (10 PM),at which I become a human being! lol

All in all, I love long nights and early mornings, I wish if I could sleep from 3 am until 5 am only!!

Last edited by undead_saif (2009 September 11, 12:48 pm)

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