Some people don't really mind whether they get enough sleep or not. While a three-hour sleep may be sufficient for some, a new study would surely cause them to do a double take as it was revealed that inadequate amount of sleep can greatly affect one's ability to focus during daytime.
Queensland Brain Institute's neuroscientists have conducted a study concerning the relationship between sleep and ability to focus. According to a report by Huffington Post, sleep and attention are actually two opposite human body mechanisms, yet they actually work in complete harmony.
According to Leonie Kirszenblat, one of the researchers involved in the study, "Sleep and attention seem like opposite brain states, but they may actually arise from similar brain mechanisms that relate to ignoring the outside world."
The study has revealed that if a person expects to do a task in the morning that will require a lot of focus and attention, then more sleep is needed the night before. Kirszenblat also said that the relationship between sleep and attention can be regarded as "two sides of the same coin."
Kirszenblat also mentioned that, "Both allow animals to selectively process some information, while ignoring most other sensory stimuli." He further stated, "...they might be quite similar because both involve suppressing the outside world."
The American Psychological Association also emphasized the role of sleep on having a stronger memory and better attention span. It was highly stressed that sleep is a necessity that people must give importance to.
Sleep can affect a person's alertness and performance. It even contributes to having a longer life span. Sleep is therefore determinative of the quality of life that an individual may have.
It is recommended that people sleep for six hours or more. Less than this has been found to reduce the ability of the brain to focus and store new information into long-term memory.
