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How Sleep Affects Performance, Health, and Well-Being

By Fenella Saunders

A Q&A with a psychology researcher on the stress and subsequent events caused by improper sleep.

September 16, 2016

From The Staff Biology Animal Behavior

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June J. Pilcher, a professor of psychology at Clemson University, researches the effects of stress on performance, health, and well being. In this Q&A, she spoke with me about the stress and subsequent effects caused by improper sleep.

A Storify of the Tweets detailing the discussion is shown below.

How Sleep Affects Performance, Health, and Well-Being

A Q&A with June J. Pilcher, professor of psychology at Clemson University and Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecturer, on the stress and subsequent effects caused by improper sleep.

  1. NEW link for today's #AmSciGHO on #sleep w/ June Pilcher: https://t.co/3PkbjjcICY Join us live now! https://t.co/ovRwdFqWHs
    NEW link for today's #AmSciGHO on #sleep w/ June Pilcher:  https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/105912012577473692435/events/ct4o7jcvtv0vt8r27m7ir21npmo … Join us live now! pic.twitter.com/ovRwdFqWHs
    American Scientist@AmSciMag
    ·
    Fri, Sep 09 2016 17:31:56
  2. AmSciMag
    American Scientist@AmSciMag
    #AmSciGHO w/ Pilcher: Our #brain does things during #sleep that we do at no other time. This idea was revolutionary.
    Fri, Sep 09 2016 17:35:28
  3. AmSciMag
    American Scientist@AmSciMag
    #AmSciGHO w/ Pilcher: Brain waves during sleep look different when we are awake. And even during napping, looks diff than sleep at night.
    Fri, Sep 09 2016 17:36:18
  4. AmSciMag
    American Scientist@AmSciMag
    Pilcher #AmSciGHO: All #animals #sleep. Alligators don't have cortex that mammals do. Birds really diff. But mammals have similarities.
    Fri, Sep 09 2016 17:38:10
  5. AmSciMag
    American Scientist@AmSciMag
    Pilcher #AmSciGHO: Biphasic sleep has been seen, but most scientists say that that is not ideal for ppl in modern societies today.
    Fri, Sep 09 2016 17:38:53
  6. AmSciMag
    American Scientist@AmSciMag
    Pilcher #AmSciGHO: Students often sleep deprived, but under age 25, brain is still growing.
    Fri, Sep 09 2016 17:40:43
  7. SigmaXiSociety
    SigmaXiSociety@SigmaXiSociety
    Sleep deprivation hurts you; doesn't allow brain to reset at night. A nap isn't the same. --June Pilcher  http://bit.ly/2cgOTxh  #AmSciGHO
    Fri, Sep 09 2016 17:41:51
  8. MostlyMicrobes
    AnneEstes@MostlyMicrobes
    YES - screams every #tiredparent.  https://twitter.com/SigmaXiSociety/status/774301809615605764 …
    Fri, Sep 09 2016 17:42:51
  9. AmSciMag
    American Scientist@AmSciMag
    Pilcher #AmSciGHO: Growing evidence that a big part of maintaining healthy weight or losing weight is tied to insulin levels.
    Fri, Sep 09 2016 17:42:54
  10. AmSciMag
    American Scientist@AmSciMag
    Pilcher #AmSciGHO: Eating sugar-->high insulin-->store fat.
    Fri, Sep 09 2016 17:43:25
  11. AmSciMag
    American Scientist@AmSciMag
    Pilcher #AmSciGHO: When we don't sleep enough, there seems to be a miscommunication btwn sugar & insulin levels.
    Fri, Sep 09 2016 17:44:43
  12. AmSciMag
    American Scientist@AmSciMag
    Pilcher #AmSciGHO: Need insulin to get rid of sugar. If insulin is not there, too much sugar in body.
    Fri, Sep 09 2016 17:45:06
  13. AmSciMag
    American Scientist@AmSciMag
    Pilcher #AmSciGHO: Immune system negatively affected by sleep loss
    Fri, Sep 09 2016 17:45:48
  14. AmSciMag
    American Scientist@AmSciMag
    Pilcher #AmSciGHO: It's quite clear now that lack of sleep negatively affects the immune system.
    Fri, Sep 09 2016 17:46:17
  15. AmSciMag
    American Scientist@AmSciMag
    Pilcher #AmSciGHO: Majority of cases of #insomnia can be solved by behavioral methods.
    Fri, Sep 09 2016 17:47:23
  16. AmSciMag
    American Scientist@AmSciMag
    Pilcher #AmSciGHO: Artificial lighting makes it too easy for us to stay up late, irregular times going to sleep
    Fri, Sep 09 2016 17:47:59
  17. AmSciMag
    American Scientist@AmSciMag
    Pilcher #AmSciGHO: Regular sleep times even on weekends can make a big diff--if you do this, often feel positive effect w/in 2wks
    Fri, Sep 09 2016 17:48:49
  18. LIVE: How Sleep Affects Health ft June Pilcher, psych prof @ClemsonUniv https://t.co/uOUgRlHSHD #AmSciGHO https://t.co/SuMu8NrgQe
    LIVE: How Sleep Affects Health ft June Pilcher, psych prof @ClemsonUniv  http://bit.ly/2cgOTxh  #AmSciGHO pic.twitter.com/SuMu8NrgQe
    SigmaXiSociety@SigmaXiSociety
    ·
    Fri, Sep 09 2016 17:48:59
  19. AmSciMag
    American Scientist@AmSciMag
    Pilcher #AmSciGHO: Once you make wake time a habit, your brain just gets up.
    Fri, Sep 09 2016 17:49:20
  20. AmSciMag
    American Scientist@AmSciMag
    Pilcher #AmSciGHO: "I'll let myself sleep in an hr on weekends. But the more trouble ppl have sleeping the more precise they need to be."
    Fri, Sep 09 2016 17:49:59
  21. AmSciMag
    American Scientist@AmSciMag
    Pilcher #AmSciGHO: Correlational evidence suggests that if the body is sleeping a bunch day after day, something is going on
    Fri, Sep 09 2016 17:52:41
  22. AmSciMag
    American Scientist@AmSciMag
    Pilcher #AmSciGHO: If one is above age 50 and sleeping 9+ hrs a night, might be something to ask dr about
    Fri, Sep 09 2016 17:53:12
  23. AmSciMag
    American Scientist@AmSciMag
    Pilcher #AmSciGHO: Sleep high in infancy, decreases throughout childhood, but by young/middle adulthood stabilizes. Middle age, may decrease
    Fri, Sep 09 2016 17:54:27
  24. AmSciMag
    American Scientist@AmSciMag
    Pilcher #AmSciGHO: Some evidence that women suffer sleep loss post-menopause. But avoiding sugar & exercising can counteract that.
    Fri, Sep 09 2016 17:55:17
  25. AmSciMag
    American Scientist@AmSciMag
    Pilcher #AmSciGHO: Poor socioeconomic status folks have diff types of stress, and that tends to disrupt sleep.
    Fri, Sep 09 2016 17:56:07
  26. AmSciMag
    American Scientist@AmSciMag
    Pilcher #AmSciGHO: Personal tracking devices & mobile tech has promise for studying sleep
    Fri, Sep 09 2016 17:56:42
  27. AmSciMag
    American Scientist@AmSciMag
    Pilcher #AmSciGHO: Personal tracking devices for sleep can overestimate sleep bc measures person's stillness.
    Fri, Sep 09 2016 17:57:18
  28. AmSciMag
    American Scientist@AmSciMag
    Pilcher #AmSciGHO: Every 90min during sleep, go into REM and dream.
    Fri, Sep 09 2016 17:59:08
  29. AmSciMag
    American Scientist@AmSciMag
    Pilcher #AmSciGHO: Best way to recognize onset of REM is deep relaxation in muscles in head and neck. Not yet convenient to measure this.
    Fri, Sep 09 2016 17:59:47
  30. AmSciMag
    American Scientist@AmSciMag
    Pilcher #AmSciGHO: Some devices measure brain waves, but will not give best recordings of sleep state. Ppl are deriving correlates.
    Fri, Sep 09 2016 18:00:21
  31. AmSciMag
    American Scientist@AmSciMag
    Pilcher #AmSciGHO: Tech is moving rapidly, so being able to have a "FitBit" for sleep may come in the future.
    Fri, Sep 09 2016 18:00:53
  32. AmSciMag
    American Scientist@AmSciMag
    Pilcher #AmSciGHO: We should sleep rather than do shift work. But that's never gonna happen. We need ppl on shifts at night.
    Fri, Sep 09 2016 18:02:08
  33. AmSciMag
    American Scientist@AmSciMag
    Pilcher #AmSciGHO: Many shift workers sleep every day but don't sleep enough. And sleep during the day is not the same as at night.
    Fri, Sep 09 2016 18:02:38
  34. AmSciMag
    American Scientist@AmSciMag
    Pilcher #AmSciGHO: Shift work, jet lag, side effects of modern society--as sleep scientists 1 of our big jobs is to help ppl manage these.
    Fri, Sep 09 2016 18:03:18
  35. AmSciMag
    American Scientist@AmSciMag
    Pilcher #AmSciGHO: It wasn't that long ago that only ppl in studies were white males. There is ongoing effort to be inclusive.
    Fri, Sep 09 2016 18:06:38
  36. AmSciMag
    American Scientist@AmSciMag
    Pilcher #AmSciGHO: Advice to PhDs: Data show writing every day for 30min is more productive than "binge writing"
    Fri, Sep 09 2016 18:19:04
  37. AmSciMag
    American Scientist@AmSciMag
    This concludes our live tweeting of the #AmSciGHO with June Pilcher. Hope you enjoyed!
    Fri, Sep 09 2016 18:19:34
  38. fenellasaunders
    Fenella Saunders@fenellasaunders
    Great talk with June Pilcher @ClemsonResearch about sleep and health. Click @AmSciMag for tweets and video.  https://twitter.com/AmSciMag/status/774302922267963396 …
    Fri, Sep 09 2016 18:23:58

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