
Small areas of the brain go to sleep when we're up too late - shawndumas
http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2011/04/if-you-only-feel-half-awake-you-probably-are.ars
======
gojomo
I've definitely noticed that staying up late (or similarly being awake after
not getting enough sleep) harms memory recall, motor tasks, and
concentration/logic.

But, lack-of-sleep also sometimes offers a slight euphoria or
creativity/disinhibition in thinking. The mechanism might even be the same:
certain parts of the brain that normally moderate mood or inhibit certain
lines of thought fall asleep on their own. So, the remaining parts of the
brain party.

~~~
zspade
This makes sense. I've been noticing lately that if I stay up late designing,
my creative flow seems to improve drastically.. Up until this point I thought
I had just been fooling myself into thinking I was better when I stayed up
late, but perhaps there is actually something to it.

~~~
fuzionmonkey
I've found this to be true as well. My writing ability and creativity seem to
improve when I stay up late. I'd like to see a real study into this. But
anecdotal evidence seems to support this idea.

------
tophat02
The last paragraph is by far the most profound thing in the article.

~~~
carbocation
Thanks for pointing that out; your comment led me to read the Ars article. I
was then compelled to go Nature and read the article and its accompanying News
and Views. Interestingly, the News and Views opens with the same profound
point (that the unit of sleep appears to be _single neurons_ ) that you
referred to in your post. My point is only to note that the Nature folks
address in the first line what it took the Ars reporter an entire article to
get at.

Nature News and Views:
[http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v472/n7344/full/472427a...](http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v472/n7344/full/472427a.html)

Nature News:
[http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110427/full/news.2011.259.ht...](http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110427/full/news.2011.259.html)

Nature Article:
[http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v472/n7344/full/nature1...](http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v472/n7344/full/nature10009.html)

------
beagle3
Possibly crackpot, but still interesting "Left In the Dark" theory says left
side of the brain needs more sleep than right side, and that sleep deprivation
can actually improve those areas in which the left side suppresses the right
side. A very interesting read: <http://leftinthedark.org.uk/>

~~~
pnathan
yeah, they look about as cracked as a broken mug. Separating 'rational' from
'mathematical' wins you serious crackpot points in my book.

But crackpot science is interesting. I think crackpots are a very creative
source of ideas and should almost never be _wholly_ written off.

~~~
beagle3
I've read the book, and it is well referenced and researched, at least on par
with modern scientific standards: Which means, the author _probably_ picks the
sources that support his ideas, and ignores those that don't (that's how
modern published science works in nutrition, health and medicine).

------
Joakal
How does motivation factor into this due to the release of chemicals such as
endorphin (game addiction or posting) or adrenaline (deadlines)?

~~~
thefreshteapot
Add to this list:

Food, when it was eaten inrelation to tiredness, light/medium or hard
exercise(what type of exercise)

I certainly know my focus and "sharpness" does drop, yet it never drops at the
same time(at least not obviously ie i have not measured it)

------
ditojim
so this is essentially the science behind why we "feel" tired. neat.

