Sleep Deprivation Affects Mental and Motor Performance

The evidence that sleep deprivation adversely affects mental and motor performance is striking.  Recent studies have shown that people who are awake for 19 hours score substantially worse on performance and alertness than those who are legally intoxicated.  Getting three, five, or less than seven hours of sleep a night for seven consecutive nights can significantly impair alertness and motor performance.  In addition, researchers have found that people with mild to moderate sleep apnea; a health condition in which breathing stops periodically during sleep and disrupts sleep, did as bad or worse on reaction-time tests as those who would be considered inebriated in most states.