

Bed sharing 'drains men's brains' - parenthesis
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/5197440.stm

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calambrac
That's not all it drains, am I right? Am I right? Come on, high five!

...

Hmm... I should probably have more karma before making that joke.

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mynameishere
^ not married.

...

hmm, it seems that hacker news is skipping over the reddit and digg phases of
social sites, and going straight to /b/

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calambrac
:) Serious comments for serious stories. Bad pop science deserves to be
mocked.

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emmett
""Historically, we have never been meant to sleep in the same bed as each
other. It is a bizarre thing to do. "

...what??? Where did that idea come from? Sleeping with other people is as old
as humankind. _Beds_ are unnatural, and having nearly enough space and
resources to have one bed per person even more so.

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mechanical_fish
I think you're correct -- but the original sentence is actually very carefully
worded so as to include your interpretation.

Never bet against a scientist in a cagey-wording competition. When they're
focused on the task, they're almost as bad as lawyers.

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AndyKelley
Also to note, the couples who were tested knew that they were sleeping alone
because of a test, safe with the comfort that their significant other still
loved them. It's a different case when you're sleeping alone and lonely.

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giardini
Though sex probably has the opposite effect. For example Schrodinger took a
vacation with his mistress to work on the wave equation, which he did between
lovemaking sessions.

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hugh
Counter-anecdote: Erdos.

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hhm
But Erdos was always on drugs so he might not count.

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eru
Not always. There was this one month he lost to a bet.

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hhm
Always minus a month is still always in this kind of context. Otherwise, I
would have also meant that Erdös was also on drugs when he was a baby and
during his childhood, and I guess it's easy to deduce from context that wasn't
the case. I already knew about the one month anecdote but didn't thought it
was relevant for my reply.

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eru
Yes, it was not relevant. But since we are talking about anecdotes anyway..

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hhm
You are right, sorry for taking it too seriously.

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ojbyrne
They hide the punchline at the very end.

"If they have shared their bed with their partner for a long time they miss
them and that will disturb sleep."

In other words, its temporary.

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iamwil
a sample only ten couples makes me suspect of the results...

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silentbicycle
It says _eight_ couples, over ten days.

I'm not usually one to reflexively write off studies, but this sounds like a
group of scientists collectively whining about their spouses hogging the
blankets.

~~~
jgrahamc
I agree. You've got only 8 couples over only 10 nights. That's short and a
small sample. Also there's no detail on what they did when they slept apart.
For example, perhaps the men went off slept in a 5 star hotel and pampered
themselves.

Also, this news is from 2006. But it gets worse. If you go find the paper
you'll find this abstract:

"Introduction: So far only a few studies (e. g. Meadows et al 2005) have
focused on the interrelationship between bedpartners and its effect on sleep
and sleep quality. Previous studies were either restricted to women's
perceptions and experiences of sleep (Hislop et al 2003) or to interaction
between parents and children. Method: The current investigation examined how
sleep and sleep quality is influenced by the presence and absence of the
bedpartner over a period of four weeks. Couples were young unmarried students
(mean age: 25; range: 22 - 26) with no children and no history of sleep
disturbances. All subjects filled in the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index
(PSQI), a standardized sleep anamnesis inventory as well as the MEQ-
questionnaire to evaluate morning- or evening- chronotypes. Sleep-wake
patterns were continuously monitored by wrist-worn actigraphs and all subjects
completed a sleep diary including a standardized self-rating scale for
subjective sleep and awakening quality every morning. During the investigation
period subjects were instructed to spend at least 10 nights together and 10
separately. Results: Preliminary results from three couples (out of 10) show a
significant reduction of subjective sleep and awakening quality in the co-
sleeping condition as compared to the nights slept alone. This tendency was
observed in females as well as in males. Co-sleeping also reduced objective
(calculated by actigraphs) and subjective sleep efficiency (sleep log data)
with a more pronounced reduction in females. When sleeping alone women have
more sleep epochs associated with movements than men. In nights spent together
in both females and males the mean activity score increased but the changes
were not significant. Discussion: The current investigation examines both
gender differences during sleep/wakefulness and the physiological and
psychological impact each partner has on the other during sleep."

Key phrase: Preliminary results from three couples (out of 10) show a
significant reduction of subjective sleep and awakening quality in the co-
sleeping condition as compared to the nights slept alone.

So this is based on just three couples in fact.

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eru
For 10$ you should be able to hire around a thousand mturkers in the name of
science.

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rgrieselhuber
Futons on tatami solve that problem. You're sharing the same space but you
aren't disturbed by your partner's movements.

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nailer
And now you no longer have a proper mattress and your knees hurt when you fuck
her.

Leave your futon back in 1995 when people ignored its ridiculous
impracticalities.

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steveplace
emailed this to my wife.

Her response: The couch is always open...

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aardvarkious
my wife responded with "not happening"- I've wanted separate beds (mostly
jokingly) for awhile.

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josefresco
Solution: 1 bed, two comforters.

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time_management
The quality of the bed has to be a major factor here. How large is the bed? Is
the mattress designed so that one person can toss and turn without disturbing
the other? (Most aren't.)

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wastedbrains
My girlfriend will not be a fan of this article.

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froo
Seems this article gives weight to the following argument/joke.

 _"Men were born with a brain and penis and only enough blood to run one at a
time"_

