And so to bed

Not enough sleep

The other day I came across an article from Harvard Medical School about sleep. Research at Harvard has shown that a lack of sleep can affect your studies and your memory due to the way the neural connections in your brain work while you are sleeping. A good night's sleep is vital if you want these connections to work properly. If you don't get enough sleep, the connections are weakened and the brain can't process new ideas properly.  Also, it can't fully recall and remember previously learnt information.

Personally, I've always needed my sleep. If I don't get a full 8 hours a night, I feel cranky and stressed. I've also noticed that students who don't get enough sleep find it difficult to concentrate and learn in class.  Of course, I'm not the first person to have noticed this, but it's interesting that Harvard have now shown why this is the case. However, there are people who can work and study efficiently on very little sleep e.g. 4 or 5 hours a night. Harvard themselves say that there is still a lot more research that needs to done on how sleep affects memory and learning. In the meantime, try to get a good night's sleep.