Sunday, March 20, 2011

The Early Bird Can Have the Worm... I'm Having A Latte

Good news, fellow night-owls! Turns out, "Smart People SLEEP LATE".

 Yea, I don't really know if Matt sleeps late but it's a good excuse to post a picture of him
"Sleep is a fundamental component of animal biology. New evidence confirms that, in humans, its timing reflects intelligence. People with higher IQs (intelligence quotients) tend to be more active nocturnally, going to bed later, whereas those with lower IQs usually retire to bed sooner after nightfall.

The precise function of sleep is arguable. But, accumulating evidence shows that lack of sleep in humans and animals can result in obesity, high blood pressure and reduced life spans. Drowsiness impairs mental performance. For instance, 37 per cent of all motor vehicle accidents are caused by drowsy motorists, according to a University of Pennsylvania study. Even minor sleep deficiencies impact on body chemistry.
According to Juliette Faraco of Stanford University, sleep loss generates a proportionate need for "sleep rebound".
One of the most controversial and significant recent findings is the correlation in humans between the earliness/lateness of sleep preferences and intelligence.
Robert Bolizs at Semmelweist University, and his coworkers, have shown that encephalograms during sleep illustrate how sleep elements are directly related to "wakeful cognitive performance." Studies by researchers H. Aliasson and colleagues show the timing of intervals of sleep "correlates closely" with student academic achievement.
Extensive research by Satoshi Kanazawa and colleagues at the London School of Economics and Political Science have uncovered significant differences in sleep-timing preferences among people, depending on their IQ scores.People with higher IQs are more apt to be nocturnal night-owls. Those with lower IQs tend to restrict their activities primarily to daytime.
People who prefer to go to bed early, and who are early-risers, demonstrate "morningness," whereas those whose sleep patterns are shifted later demonstrate "eveningness." Researchers say eveningness tends to be a characteristic of those with higher IQs.
According to Kanazawa, ancestral humans were typically diurnal, and that a shift towards more nocturnal activities is an "evolutionarily novel preference" of the type normally found in more intelligent individuals, demonstrating "a higher level of cognitive complexity" in the practitioners.
Recent studies at the University of Bologna suggest early-risers are comparatively more conscientious people. Related studies indicate eveningness is often age-related and that eveningness usually peaks at between 17-21 years of age; thereafter morningness becomes more prevalent.
A 2008 study by psychologist Marina Giamnietro and colleagues indicates evening-types tend to be less reliable, less emotionally stable and more apt to suffer from depression, addictions and eating disorders.
Morningness or eveningness are often genetically-based, according to researchers Lambertus Klei at Carnegie Mellon Univesity, Patrick Rietz at the University of Pittsburgh and their associates. In 2008, studies at Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry demonstrated sleep-time preferences are often inherited, and subsequent data indicates that 50 per cent of sleep-time choices are dictated by genetic factors.
"Hypocretins" are inextricably linked to sleep/wakefulness, according to Stanford University research. Hypocretins react with "wake-up" cell groups, including dopamine.
Sleep parameters vary among animals. Cows, for instance, sleep open-eyed. Horses sleep standing up. Some birds can sleep in flight, others while standing. Dolphins sleep in one-half of their brain while the other half remains awake. Bats need 19.9 hours of sleep every 24 hours, lions need 13.5, rats 13, cats 12.5, whales 5.3, deer 3.1, giraffes 1.9, most birds three to eight and donkeys three."

Read the original article by Robert Alison at Winnipegfreepress.com

9 comments:

  1. I thought Winnipeg in the link was winning for a second... i'm going paranoid... I also think i'm not going to bed soon. :D

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  2. Cum hoc ergo propter hoc!!

    I think these researchers are just picking up on something that occurs coincidentally. Maybe people who stay up late just "develop" higher IQs because they spend more time learning (whether it be studying or just surfing the internet)? And people who prefer a more regimented sleep schedule lose this extra time and hence have lower IQs?

    Also, 17-21? Is that not the peak age for students to graduate high school and attend some post secondary institution? Of course we're going to stay up late studying for diploma exams and all-nighter projects during this time! And by the time we've got the post secondary credentials we need, we usually drop the school schedule and conform to the 9-5 work schedule by adopting a early to bed, early to rise routine.

    And, of course I'm going to be "less reliable, less emotionally stable and more apt to suffer from depression, addictions and eating disorders," I didn't get enough sleep!! If classes started at noon everyday so I'd have time to sleep in I'd be fine, but ohh noooo, 9am classes it is. And people 17-21 are going through the awkward stages from teen to adult so they often experience these challenges anyways because it's a stressful role change.

    And finally, 50% of sleep choices are determined by genetics - okay, well that also leaves 50% not genetic...

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correlation_does_not_imply_causation

    Awesome blog post Ikaria. Especially at this time in the morning. :D

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  3. ALL GOOD POINTS. Still going to rack up the iq score until it's time to conform :P muahah

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  4. My goodness Rachel!
    You must feel pretty strongly about the subject to go through such trouble to write a mini-essay at 3 in the morning... maybe it's the IQ ;P
    haha, at this rate, between the 3 of us, we could veritably give Sheldon a run for his money!
    I do agree with you though, when I first read the article it seemed very one-sided. I don't doubt that the study did yield such results but it does appear to be a post hoc fallacy (a brilliant argument btw!). Did you learn that in a lecture?

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  5. Ah yes, that was a combination of a logic course last winter semester, and a course on research methodologies this past fall semester. Who knew it would come in handy here?

    I don't doubt their studies produced these results, but I bet the claims the researchers made were much more modest than what was presented here.
    My guess is that Mr. Alison was working late himself, needed a headliner submitted by 7am, and was desperately looking for a topic that would finally bring readers to his sorry column. He finds a topic that looks promising, but notices that the study results are inconclusive; likely stating that more research is required on the topic, and merely suggesting that there might be a linkage between sleep patterns and IQ. Frustrated that his Zoology PhD still has him writing these pathetic columns, he inflates the results of the study to be worthy of the news, and submits his article so he can go to bed (if you look on the link, it says the article was submitted at 1am). Next morning, he checks the progress on his column, and sees that the tweets and facebook "likes" are climbing. He sits watching the screen with his coffee, and chuckles thinking of all the people who now believe their sleep schedule will make them smarter.

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  6. huh, he does seem to have an affinity for eye catching column titles:
    http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/columnists/36329954.html

    ... could it be that Mr. Alison is taking his frustrations out on the sleep-deprived minds of 17-21 year olds or could it be that, due to his heightened IQ level, he's really onto something?

    It would appear that the only way to put this debate to rest is to find out the truth for ourselves!

    To begin:

    Here is an article with more details from the study done by the Satoshi Kanazawa Alison mentions:

    "Sleep & Smarts Stats:

    Bedtimes and wake-up times for Americans in their 20s by IQ.

    Very Dull (IQ < 75)
    Weekday: 11:41 P.M.-7:20 A.M.
    Weekend: 12:35 A.M.-10:09 A.M.

    Normal (90 < IQ < 110)
    Weekday: 12:10 A.M.-7:32 A.M.
    Weekend: 1:13 A.M.-10:14 A.M.

    Very Bright (IQ > 125)
    Weekday: 12:29 A.M.-7:52 A.M.
    Weekend: 1:44 A.M.-11:07 A.M."
    http://studymagazine.com/2010/11/10/sleeping-late-sign-laziness-intelligence/

    Here is Dr. Kanazawa's profile from the London School of Economics:
    http://personal.lse.ac.uk/Kanazawa/
    ...he is quite the prolific writer on the subjects of intelligence and IQ's

    BY JOVE, I'VE GOT IT!!
    Here is the original article, in PDF format, that Alison cited:
    http://personal.lse.ac.uk/Kanazawa/pdfs/PAID2009.pdf
    ...hmm, but he repeatedly cites himself as sources, I wonder, does that denigrate it's reliability as a source?

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  7. well, all of the articles on the "Opinion" section of the Winnipeg Free Press have been posted at 1:00am. Not that mr.alison was puking up something last second. And I think Winnipeg Free Press is an actual news paper... leading me to think that the website is almost like a database for articles after they've been printed, read, and removed for the next issue. But I may be misled

    THIS WHOLE ARTICLE crossed me as saying “less time being unconscious and sleeping = more time consciously doing SOMETHING”… which ALWAYS leads to a change in IQ, whether that be watching the discovery channel (in all fairness though, I could be watching Sex and the City and learn a thing or two), reading a book, or talking to someone, your brain is naturally learning answers to questions, which you wouldn’t know the answers to if you were sleeping. I believe that’s the premise to this entire article. Im sure many people have thought about the trade off between sleeping and not sleeping (so many possible examples), which may be why he wrote the article to begin with. Arguments can go for and against this article FOREVER, which is probably why it’s a good article(IMO). But anyway, that’s not even worth 2 cents, it’s just my opinion. Besides, IQ tests are shitty assessments for intelligence anyways.

    BACK TO THE MUSIC

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  8. VERY well put Makaveli! I especially liked your sleep equation.

    Although it may be high time we put this endless discussion to, well, an end - the whole article still begs the question: indeed, you may be spending more time "learning" things (Sex and the City included ;) but how much will you actually RETAIN and comprehend in your sleep-deprived state? I've heard that a person operating under sleep deprivation is very similar to someone under the influence of alcohol...

    BUT perhaps we should just be content with the thought that our IQ's are increasing with every wakeful moment and let's finally put this debate to bed. Ooooo snap!
    (I couldn't resist XD)

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