Just browse the internet a bit to find people complaining about alleged excessive sleepiness shown by some women.
However, what before seemed just laziness and/or lack of disposition, can now be proven scientifically, as a study carried out in the United States pointed out that women need to sleep more than men.
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The basis of this information
A study carried out by Duke University, in North Carolina, United States, was responsible for proving that, yes, women need to sleep more than men.
However, women don't need to sleep more just because they are more tired than men or something like that, it's because their brains work differently and need more rest time.
The study, which was carried out in 2008, evaluated 210 men and women, gathering valuable information regarding the need for brain rest. One of the data collected by the sample informs that women suffer more than men when they do not sleep properly.
“We found that, for women, poor sleep is strongly associated with higher levels of psychological distress and higher occurrence of feelings like hostility, stress, and anger," said Edward Suarez, an associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University who headed the study.
To echo Suarez, Professor Jim Horne, director of the Sleep Research Center at the University of Loughborough, who reviewed the Duke study, briefly explained the effects of sleep on brain.
“One of the main functions of sleep is to allow the brain to recover and repair itself,” he began. “During deep sleep, the cortex — the part of the brain responsible for memory, language and so on — shuts down from the senses and goes into recovery mode,” continued Jim.
“The more you use your brain during the day, the more it needs to recover and therefore the more sleep you need. Women tend to multitask, and thus they use more of their brain than men. Because of this, the need for sleep is greater”, exemplified the specialist.
More study details
In the study carried out by Duke University, it is still possible to check some details that prove that, in fact, the female brain works differently from the male one.
Still according to the analysis made by Jim Horne, women's brains are “wired” differently. "Women's brains are wired differently than men's and are more complex," he said.
With regard to extra sleep, the expert also indicated the average amount. "The average is 20 minutes longer, but some women may need a little more or less than that," he said.
Other factors that overload the female brain are:
- Double journeys, with work and domestic obligations;
- Hormonal changes, such as those suffered at the time of PMS;
- Problems brought on by accumulated fatigue.
Although 20 minutes more is an average pointed out by experts, the correct rest for a woman should be at least one hour more than expected, jumping from 8h to 9h of sleep per day. That one extra hour can make a significant difference in a woman's health.
Graduated in History and Human Resources Technology. Passionate about writing, today he lives the dream of acting professionally as a Content Writer for the Web, writing articles in different niches and different formats.
