When my husband and I first wake up, the first thing we talk about is how we slept. Either we slept great or we didn't. Most times one of us slept great and we let each other know who that person was ! We each strive to get the best sleep possible each and every night because we know how important is.
Well a new study shows your performance for the day is affected by how well or how lousy you thought you slept.
The Study by Colorado College was published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology in January 2014. In the study, 164 students were divided into 2 groups:
- Group 1 - told that they had slept great the night before; their REM Sleep was above average
- Group 2 - told that they had slept poorly the night before; their REM Sleep was well below average
Each student was connected to what they were told was a high-tech new device that could analyze their brain waves to assess the quality of the sleep they had gotten the previous night.
What the Study Showed: The students who were told they’d gotten high-quality sleep the night before performed much better on a test that measuring cognitive skills ( such as attention and processing of information). The researchers called this “placebo sleep,” comparing it to the salutary effects that have been found in patients who think they’ve received pain medication when in fact they’ve taken a sugar pill.
Take home message for me: best not to dwell on the fact that I did not sleep well - it will only hurt my performance during the day!!
Source: Placebo Sleep Just As Good for You As Actual Sleep
Additional Reading:
- Change What You are Sleeping on to Help you Sleep Better
- Six Ways to Sleep Better at Night
- Understanding Neck Posture
- Pinched Nerve in the Neck: How to treat it
- How Sleep Deprivation affects Your Health
Comments