Sleep is in Your Genes, Too

Since your voting habits are genetic, it shouldn’t be surprising that your sleep habits are too. Ever wonder why some people breeze along on four hours of sleep when others can barely function? It may be in our genes. In a new study, 92 healthy adults without a specific gene variant were compared to 37 healthy adults who HAD the gene variant but did not have any sleep disorders. All of the participants came to a sleep laboratory. For the first two nights, they spent 10 hours in bed and were fully rested. The next five nights they underwent chronic partial sleep deprivation, and were only allowed four hours in bed per night. During the remaining time, lights were kept on and participants could read, play games, or watch movies to help them stay awake. The people with the gene variant were sleepier and more fatigued BOTH while both fully rested and sleep deprived.