If you chronically short yourself on sleep during the week, don't count on the weekends to fully recover.
A new study has found that men and women who get just six hours of sleep each night during the workweek will need more than the weekend to recover from the cumulative effects of this mild sleep deprivation.
The study installed 34 people, with an average age of 25 years and no sleep problems, in a sleep lab for 13 nights, reports Yahoo! Health Day. The study found that after a week of sleep restriction, two nights of extra sleep aren't enough to fully reverse the adverse effects of the sleep loss.
The participants showed significantly decreased performance on psychomotor tests, as well as subjective and objective sleepiness, reports Health Day.
Women did recover better than men, the study found.
"Women with a higher amount of deep sleep can handle better the effects of one workweek of mild sleep deprivation, and their recovery is more complete after two nights of extended sleep," the study found.
