Sleeping Late? It Might be Scientific!

Consequences of research on sleep patterns during adolescence are far-reaching, impacting such areas as learning achievements and psychological state of health. While late nights among teenagers seem a likely result of their social habits and individual preferences, evidence shows that there is a true biological mismatch between natural tendencies towards sleep and the early beginning of classes at schools. Researchers have been trying to understand how the need for sleep changes through development and have found several interesting points.

 One of the most valuable studies on this topic was carried out by Jenni et al. in their paper Homeostatic Sleep Regulation in Adolescents. The scientists separated participants into two groups—children in the prepubertal stage and older adolescents—and exposed them to 36 hours of sleep deprivation. With the help of electroencephalography and measurements of slow-wave activity (SWA), they found an important difference: although the reduction of sleep pressure is about the same in both groups after they begin sleeping, its increase throughout the previous day is slower for adolescents. In other words, mature teenagers feel sleepy less quickly, thus narrowing the period when their bodies signal that they need sleep.

 This conclusion has led researchers to reconsider the entire mechanism known as a "sleep storm." In particular, the 2018 update of Crowley et al.'s "Perfect Storm" provides helpful information on this matter. While the previous study focused only on one factor of sleep regulation—Process S—the new model adds Process C, or the effect of biological circadian rhythm, and social stressors. It has been proven that adolescents have a delayed circadian phase, which means that their natural tendency is to go to bed later. Besides, their sensitivity to evening light increases, making them feel sleepy even less quickly than under the influence of biological sleep pressure alone. However, despite biological and external factors leading teenagers to go to bed later, social institutions such as schools require them to wake up much earlier than their body needs.

 Such a contradiction seems like a very interesting area for future research, and it may provide valuable data on how biological mechanisms can affect social norms and practices. Personally, I am cautiously optimistic about future developments and think that the movement towards later school starting hours will improve the situation significantly.

References:

    Crowley, Stephanie J., et al. “An Update on Adolescent Sleep: New Evidence Informing the Perfect Storm Model.” 

    Journal of Adolescence, vol. 67, 2018, pp. 55–65. 22.Jenni, Oskar G., et al. “Homeostatic Sleep Regulation in Adolescents.” Sleep, vol. 28, no. 11, 2005, pp. 1446–1454.