Student Wellbeing
How Lack of Sleep Impacts Cognitive Performance and Focus?
Getting enough hours of high-quality sleep fosters attention and concentration, which are prerequisites for most learning. Sleep also supports numerous other aspects of cognition, including memory, problem-solving, creativity, emotional processing, and judgment. Levels of brain activity fluctuate during each stage of sleep — including both rapid eye movement (REM) and non-REM (NREM) sleep — and evidence increasingly suggests that sleep enhances most types of cognitive function.
For people with sleep deprivation, insomnia, sleep apnea, or other conditions that prevent them from getting adequate rest, short-term daytime cognitive impairment is common. Improving sleep quality can boost cognitive performance, promote sharper thinking, and may reduce the likelihood of age-related cognitive decline.
What happens if my child doesn’t get enough sleep?
A child who does not get enough healthy sleep may experience difficulties with concentration, memory, regulating their emotions, organising tasks and creative thinking. These children may be easily distracted, irritable, disruptive or generally hyperactive and restless. A lack of healthy sleep has been linked to mental health problems, poor growth, excessive weight gain, and reduced school performance.
How much sleep does a child need?
| Age | Recommended sleep hours per 24-hour period |
|---|---|
| Infants: 4 to 12 months | 12 to 16 hours (including naps) |
| Toddlers: 1 to 2 years | 11 to 14 hours (including naps) |
| Pre-schoolers: 3 to 5 years | 10 to 13 hours (including naps) |
| Grade-schoolers: 6 to 12 years | 9 to 11 hours |
| Teens: 13 to 18 years | 8 to 10 hours |
How Poor Sleep Affects the Brain
During a typical night of sleep, an individual cycles through the three stages of NREM sleep, followed by a period of REM sleep every 90 to 120 minutes, several times per night. Both the brain and body experience distinct changes during these cycles that correspond to individual stages of sleep. During each part of this process, different chemicals in the brain become activated or deactivated to coordinate rest and recovery.
Poor sleep can take many forms, including short sleep duration or fragmented sleep. Without adequate sleep, the brain struggles to function properly. Because they do not have time to recuperate, neurons in the brain become overworked and less capable of optimal performance in various types of thinking.
The short-term detriments of poor sleep on the brain and cognition can be the result of pulling an occasional all-nighter, while those with chronic sleep problems may see a continuous negative effect on day-to-day tasks. Over the long-term, poor sleep may put someone at a higher risk of cognitive decline and dementia.
Poor sleep can harm intellectual performance, academic achievement, creative pursuits, and productivity at work. Motor skills, keeping rhythm, and even some types of speech can decline without proper sleep.
Jenny Willmott
Deputy Principal and Student Wellbeing