The Effect of Sleep Deprivation on Students

Esra Mulkey

Independent Study
Mrs. Graves, Magnet Honors English 10
June 6, 2016

What I knew/What I wanted to know

Sleep is one of the most important needs for human beings, yet some teens are
neglecting the correct amount of sleep they should get. For my research paper I wanted to
focus on the effects of sleep deprivation on adolescents and their academics. I knew that a
majority of teens receive less than the healthy amount of sleep each night, but I wanted to
know why this happened.
Before I researched I knew little about the reasons the body needed sleep and
specifically what was happening in the body while one slept. I wanted to know the
processes in which the body was rejuvenated during sleep and what happened when these
processes were interrupted.. I knew that sleep was essential to the human body, however I
had no knowledge why humans needed sleep. One of my main questions was why
adolescents needs more sleep than the average person.
Another main point that I wanted to research was why teens dont get enough
sleep. I wanted to know if it was due to a psychological factor, or if teens were just bad at
regulating their sleep schedule. I knew that some students had extracurricular activities
that led to a tighter schedule, but I predicted the overarching reason to be procrastination.
Researching
The beginnings of my research started by finding a resource that would help me
comprehend what specifically happens in the body during sleep. The first article I found
proved to be the most important for my understanding of the importance for sleep. It set a
base upon which I could further build my plan for deciding what points I should research.
The article taught me the two main cycles of sleep and their impacts on the body. This

article was crucial for my understanding and reasoning for why humans need sleep so
greatly. After broadening my horizons on the subject, I decided to focus on the theories of
why we sleep. I found an article from a Harvard Medical site that I used extensively.
Being from a Harvard Medical website, I decided that it could be trusted and would be
beneficial to include in my paper.
After finding these two articles, I looked more into scientific journals for
information. Using Google Scholar I was able to find multiple journals that pertained to
my field of research. Most of my questions were answered by these journals and the
results found within them. One journal that studied students in Taiwan was testing the
effects of circadian rhythms on academic performance. This coincidence was almost
uncanny; I of course included it with the rest of my research.
One of the most important parts of my research was finding a benefactor in which
I could interview for research purposes. Though I could not find a mentor, I still learned
an immense amount about requesting a mentorship and contacting mentors effectively.
I learned an enormous amount from my research, and I am confident to say that I can
further pursue this topic in the future.

My Results
The backbone of sleeping is based on two different cycles. The REM cycle and the
NREM cycle. This stands for Rapid-Eye-Movement. Both of these cycles have multiple
stages within them in which specific restoring processes occur. The most important of
these two cycles is the NREM cycle, which takes up about 75% of the time you sleep.

Some of the things that happen in this cycle include: heart rate and breathing regulation,
decrease in blood pressure, decrease in breathing rate, relaxation of the muscles, increase
of blood supply to the muscles, repair and growth of tissue, and the release of beneficiary
hormones (What Happens When You Sleep?, 2014.)
But there has to be a reason behind why all of this occurs while sleeping; there has
to be a reason why we as humans need sleep so much. There are multiple theories as to
why we need sleep, the most famous being the energy conservation theory. This theory
states that we sleep to reduce our metabolic rates and save energy for the morning.
However, this is somewhat irrelevant by todays standards. The most accurate theory is
the Restorative Theory. The Restorative Theory states that sleeping is used to replenish
what is lost in our bodies while were sleeping. It also states that the brain and muscles
are rejuvenated during sleep. This leads into the most recent theory, the Brain Plasticity
Theory. This theory states that sleep is connected to the changes made in our brain and
the development of our brain. This could support why teens have such fluctuating sleep
patterns. The answer lies right inside their heads, their brains are developing which could
possibly be manipulating their sleeping patterns (Siegel M., 2005) (Porkka-Heiskanen,
1999) (Frank M., 2006.)
Sleeping is one of the most essential things for the human body. Teenagers need
more than the average amount of sleep, yet most get under the average amount. This can
harm their bodies and their minds in various ways. A lack of sleep may lead to a loss of
control over emotion and attention. The two largest accidents associated with a lack of

sleep are substance abuse and automobile accidents. Sleep is critical in the effect of
academic as social competence (Daytime sleepiness and alertness, 1994.)
An overarching question pertaining to teens is, Why cant they get enough
sleep? I needed to know if adolescents were just bad at regulating their sleep schedules,
or if there was perhaps a physical reason. I found that teens demonstrate a delayed
internal (biological) clock. This often occurs during second sex stage development and
may even be affected by sex. Some factors apply to not only humans but many species of
animals as well. Many species show evidence for having delayed circadian rhythms and
an internal biological clock during pubescence. This also includes irregular sleep systems
and endocrine function. Humans, in general, are driven by the Homeostatic Drive and
circadian timing. Teens have such irregular circadian rhythms because they have a
resistance to their homeostatic drives, allowing them to stay up later than usual, which in
turn delays their circadian rhythm making their bodies think they need to stay asleep
longer in the morning and sleep later at night. Also, as a child you have more NREM
power, the cycle of sleep responsible for bodily repair. This accounts for why many teens
can function with a shortage of sleep. Through my research I found that sticking to a
regulated sleep schedule can help with a lack of sleep. For example, a student who goes
to bed at later times but sticks to that bedtime each night will be able to function better
than a student who goes to bed early but has an unbalanced circadian rhythm. Circadian
rhythms are a key point in sleep deprivation. Having a balanced circadian rhythm can be
beneficial even when little sleep is occurring (Kang and Chen, 2009)

Resources
1. "What Happens When You Sleep?" - National Sleep Foundation. National
Sleep Foundation, from https://sleepfoundation.org/how-sleep-works/whathappens-when-you-sleep.
2. Siegel, Jerome M. "Clues to the Functions of Mammalian
Sleep." Nature 437.7063 (2005): 1264-271. Web.
3. Porkka-Heiskanen, Tarja. "Adenosine in Sleep and Wakefulness." Annals of
Medicine 31.2 (1999): 125-29. Web.
4. Frank MG. 2006. The mystery of sleep function: current perspectives and
future directions. Reviews in the Neurosciences. 17:375-392.:
5. Pathways to adolescent health sleep regulation and behavior Dahl, Ronald E
et al. Journal of Adolescent Health , Volume 31 , Issue 6 , 175 - 184
6. Roth, T., Roehrs, T.A., Carskadon, M.A., Dement, W.C. Daytime sleepiness
and alertness. in: M.H. Kryger, T. Roth, W.C. Dement (Eds.) Principles and
Practice of Sleep Medicine. 2nd Edition. WB Saunders &
Co, Philadelphia; 1994:4049.
7. Jiunn-Horng Kang, Shih-Ching Chen, Biomed central ltd. 2009, BMC Public
Health, Effects of an irregular bedtime schedule on sleep quality, daytime
sleepiness, and fatigue among university students in Taiwan. DOI:
10.1186/1471-2458-9-248