Don’t Be a DrowZzzzzz Driver, Get Some Sleep
Most of us have felt it, that warm
fuzzy feeling you get right before you drift off. The sensation of your eyelids
slowly dropping, ultimately closing you off from the world for a brief second.
This feeling is great- when you’re in a warm cozy bed. However, not so great
when you’re on the road. Unfortunately, most of us know someone or have had first-hand
experience with drowsy driving. With a society revolved around efficiency, it
is difficult to take the time out of our busy schedules to receive the
recommended 8 hours of sleep. However, it is extremely important that we do.
First, we must
look at the biological aspect of sleep. Our circadian rhythm and homeostasis
are key contributors for the patterns of sleep we require to keep our minds high
functioning. Our circadian rhythm acts as a 24hr biological clock, producing
one cycle of sleep and wakefulness (5). It has been shown that a person will feel the strongest
drive to sleep around 2:00-4:00 am and just after lunch between 1:00-3:00pm (4).
This homeostatic sleep drive is due to a gradual buildup of adenosine, a
neurotransmitter involved in the metabolism of cells (1). When you sleep, your
body recycles this neurotransmitter, restarting the cycle all over again.
In an
article about long-haul truck drivers, Mitler & colleagues investigated the
effect of fatigue and sleep deprivation in truck drivers. The article studied
the driving performance and electrophysiological aspects such as respiratory
sensors and eye recordings, to determine the drowsiness of each driver.
Researchers studied 80 truck drivers of different ages with various sleep
schedules and trucking shifts. After measuring the amount of sleep each truck
driver received and the scores on performance and overall drowsiness, it was
found that drivers who drove the steady night hauling shift spent the shortest
amount of time in bed, receiving an average of only 4.37 hours of sleep each
night, whereas steady day shift drivers received the most amount of sleep of about
5.78 hours each night. Unsurprisingly, the steady night drivers were found to
show the most amount of drowsy driving of about 11.61% in comparison to the day
shift drivers with only 1.49% showing signs of drowsiness (2). These results
show that sleep deprivation has a large effect on drowsiness of drivers and
ultimately public safety.
Lack of
sleep not only affects the performance of driving, but the person’s overall
cognitive function. A research study examined the effect of insufficient sleep
on 19 healthy adults. Each participant went through two experimental
conditions. In the first condition, they all received 8 full hours of sleep. In
the other condition, the same participants received less than 4 hours of sleep.
Participants then took part in a Wisconsin sorting cognitive function test and
performed significantly worse when they only received 4 hours of sleep when
compared to 8 hours. In addition, when testing the participants in a driving situation,
participants in the 4 hours condition showed a significant increase in reaction
time during a harsh-brake condition than when they received 8 hours of sufficient
sleep (3). Concluding that insufficient sleep not only yields poor reaction times,
but also a significant decrease in cognitive performances requiring attention.
So where do
we go from here, in a world pushing for more productivity? We know that it is
extremely important to receive the recommended 8 hours of sleep, not only for
our well-being, but for public safety. Do we boycott the unreasonable hours of
our jobs? Do we move forward to self-driving cars? My recommendation— take
naps.
Works Cited:
(1) Canapari, C., MD. (2017, January 2). Why you fall asleep
part 1: Harnessing sleep drive for a better bedtime. Retrieved December 11,
2017, from https://www.babysleepstudy.org/node/91
(2) Mitler, M., Miller, J., Lipsitz, J., Walsh, J., &
Wylie, C. (1997). The Sleep of Long-Haul Truck Drivers. The New England
Journal of Medicine, 337(11), 755-762.
(3) Miyata, Noda, Ozaki, Hara, Minoshima, Iwamoto, . . .
Koike. (2010). Insufficient sleep impairs driving performance and cognitive
function. Neuroscience Letters, 469(2), 229-233.
(4) National Sleep Foundation. (2017). Sleep Drive and Your Body Clock. Retrieved
December 11, 2017, from https://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-topics/sleep-drive-and-your-body-clock
(5) National Sleep Foundation. (2017). What is Circadian
Rhythm? Retrieved December 11, 2017, from
https://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-topics/what-circadian-rhythm
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