# Does Anybody Really Sleep Just 2 Hours A Night? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 25, 2005, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-really-sleep-just-2-hours-a-night/301033 "2005-04-25T15:29:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-really-sleep-just-2-hours-a-night/301033/21 "2005-04-26T06:30:18Z")
Yep—it’s [this guy](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=6537835&dopt=Abstract). P Lavie is a sleep researcher at the Haifa Technicon in Israel. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-really-sleep-just-2-hours-a-night/301033/22 "2005-04-26T06:35:19Z")
> [@Washoe](#): > > I think you might not be remembering the article correctly. I remember reading an article in the newspaper in 1984 about an Israeli man who sought treatment for a sleep disorder. They gave him a CAT scan, and discovered that he had a piece of shrapnel in his locus coeruleus, which prevented him from _dreaming_, not _sleeping_. I remember this article because I clipped it out and showed it to my physiological psych professor, and a quick check of my records reveals that I indeed took that class in ’84. So it’s probably the same guy. I think you’re right. This is the best I could find in the way of a cite: [http://www.albany.edu/faculty/cafrye/apsy601/sleepch8.html](http://www.albany.edu/faculty/cafrye/apsy601/sleepch8.html) > [@](#): > > A particularly interesting case of brain damage suggests that whatever the functions of REM sleep may be, they do not appear to be necessary for survival. Lavie et al. (1984) reported that a 33-year-old man whose head was injured by shrapnel at age 20 engaged in almost no REM sleep. In the sleep laboratory the man slept an average of 4.5 hours. On three of eight nights he engaged in no REM sleep; the average on the other five nights was approximately 6 minutes. The pieces of metal damaged the pons, left temporal lobe, and left thalamus. As we shall see later in this chapter, the pons seems to be the part of the brain that controls REM sleep. The almost complete lack of REM sleep did not appear to cause serious side effects. ---
**Author:** ![Othersider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/cab0a1/32.png) [@Othersider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Othersider)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-really-sleep-just-2-hours-a-night/301033/23 "2005-04-26T07:03:27Z")
According to some rumors, Tyler Durden only sleeps for one hour every night. 😃 > [@BobT](#): > > I’ve been lead to believe that if you go long enough without sleep you will start to suffer from severe mental disturbances as well as some major physical problems. I would believe it. I think the longest I’ve ever been up at one stretch was about 37 hours, and I was, without any alcohol or drugs, borderline delirious. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-really-sleep-just-2-hours-a-night/301033/24 "2005-04-26T07:23:16Z")
[sidetrack] I used to work in a job where we often had to keep going for extended shifts; sometimes days at a time with little or no rest/sleep. I found it interesting that one of the common delusions we commonly reported suffering after 36+ hours of sleep deprivation was that _nobody actually needs sleep anyway - it’s all just a big conspiracy_. [/sidetrack] ---
**Author:** ![Gozu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gozu/32/6615_2.png) [@Gozu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gozu)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-really-sleep-just-2-hours-a-night/301033/25 "2005-04-26T10:18:06Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > My neighbor in my last apartment was a scientist who conducted sleep deprivation experiments. For example, at around 3:00AM, he would suddenly blast obnoxious rap music on his stereo, depriving me of sleep. His experiment backfired, though, when I showed up at his door, half-naked holding an aluminum bat. He persued other avenues of research thereafter. Are you sure he was a scientist? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Mathochist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c89c15/32.png) [@Mathochist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mathochist)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-really-sleep-just-2-hours-a-night/301033/26 "2005-04-26T11:06:20Z")
> [@Surreal](#): > > I’ve heard people claim that they only sleep 2-3 hours a night, without exception, and that they don’t nap or feel tired during the day. Is this possible? > > Are there any documented cases of people who consistently sleep just a couple of hours a night? Are these people alert and productive during their wakeful hours, or do they just sit around all day?? > > Thanks. Obviously you’ve never been a graduate student. Then again, it’s an open question whether or not what I do is “productive”, so… ---
**Author:** ![mittu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@mittu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mittu)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-really-sleep-just-2-hours-a-night/301033/27 "2005-04-26T11:19:29Z")
I remember hearing a few years ago businessmen in Japan who survive on brief periods of sleep to allow them to contine working. They would fall asleep for periods of around 60 seconds every couple of hours IIRC and were able to function perfectly normally. I can’t remember if these periods of microsleep were voluntary or if they just happened when they were needed. I can’t find a cite to support this and it may have been an UL when I heard it as I can’t remember the source. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-really-sleep-just-2-hours-a-night/301033/28 "2005-04-26T11:25:53Z")
Was it Dali that claimed it was the mere _act of falling asleep_ that refreshes you, rather than _staying asleep for a while_? I seem to remember something about holding a spoon over a metal plate so he would drop it and wake himself straight up again. Mind you, he was a bit of a nutcase, so maybe the method doesn’t exactly recommend itself. ---
**Author:** ![Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/eada6e/32.png) [@Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_You_Big_Red_Fire_Engine)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-really-sleep-just-2-hours-a-night/301033/29 "2005-04-26T12:08:53Z")
Well there’s a livejournal community dedicated to the study of [polyphasic sleep.](http://www.livejournal.com/community/polyphasic/) (Or the way of sleeping small portions of time throughout the day) and well here’s some [links](http://www.jonnyhenderson.com/secret/sleeping.php) to some [experiments](http://djc.people.inodetech.com/sleep/sleeplog.html) (Not scientific). ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-really-sleep-just-2-hours-a-night/301033/30 "2005-04-26T16:00:51Z")
> [@NattoGuy](#): > > I think you’re right. This is the best I could find in the way of a cite: I saw a documentary on sleep on public TV (maybe it was part of the “The Mind” series? I don’t remember). They did an experiment on some college students to measure the effects of sleeplessness, performance on computerized tasks, etc. Then they brought this guy into the study who was reputed to not sleep at all, after some traumatic event. Similar but different than the Israeli man mentioned here because this guy claimed he _did not sleep_. The kept him up for some extended time (24 hours? don’t remember) then wired him and put him in bed in a dark room overnight. He did not fall asleep. His brain waves showed a cycle that slowed down during hours that would normally be spent asleep, and then back up, but he did not sleep. The researchers thought it unlikely that a sleep-deprived person immobile in a dark room could consciously resist falling asleep, though I would stop short of saying they conclusively determined that he no longer sleeps at all. ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-really-sleep-just-2-hours-a-night/301033/31 "2005-04-26T16:31:29Z")
I’ve just searched and I can’t find the article but I read fairly recently that most of those people who claim to sleep only a few hours a night really sleep more. According to this study, most of the people were underestimating the number of hours they slept each night, mostly because in this country, we view those who need less sleep as more driven and efficient. I’ll have to see if I can locate the article… ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-really-sleep-just-2-hours-a-night/301033/32 "2005-04-26T16:44:24Z")
> [@Mathochist](#): > > > [@Surreal](#): > > > > Are there any documented cases of people who consistently sleep just a couple of hours a night? Are these people alert and productive during their wakeful hours, or do they just sit around all day?? > > Obviously you’ve never been a graduate student. Then again, it’s an open question whether or not what I do is “productive”, so… Hell, I’m a graduate student. I get 10 hours of sleep at night **and** all I do is sit around all day. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-really-sleep-just-2-hours-a-night/301033/33 "2005-04-26T23:31:40Z")
> [@Joe K](#): > > So did Thomas Edison. From the Robert Conot biography _Thomas A. Edison: A Streak of Luck_ (1979; Da Capo, 1986, p467): > [@](#): > > The most pervasive legend was that he slept only a few hours out of every twenty-four. It was, in reality, a smokescreen to divert attention from his habit of nodding off. While in his younger days there were stretches of several days where he drove himself and others past the point of exhaustion, he always managed to catch up on his sleep afterward. > [Alfred] Tate related: “His genius for sleep equalled his genius for invention. He could go to sleep anywhere, any time, on anything.” He and his secretary once went to the beach for the weekend, and Edison slept thirty-six hours straight with only a two-hour interruption for a dinner of steak, potatoes, and apple pie. It was common for him to work a day and a night, taking occasional naps at the laboratory, then go to bed at Glenmont for eighteen hours. > It was another example of the division between the ideal and the practical. Ideally, Edison contended: “Sleep is an acquired habit. Cells don’t sleep. Fish swim about in the water all night; they don’t sleep. Even a horse don’t sleep, he just stands still and rests. A man don’t need any sleep.” In practice, Edison did like everyone else, and went to sleep. Judging from Conot and other biographies of him, there seems to have been an emphasis in the stories told about him by contemporaries of him slaving through the night at Menlo Park. But this just seems to have been a combination of him being an habitual night-owl who normally slept during the day and him putting in concentrated bursts of a few days under pressure as required. ---
**Author:** ![Ender\_Will](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Ender\_Will](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ender_Will)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-really-sleep-just-2-hours-a-night/301033/34 "2005-04-27T01:49:17Z")
Are there any statistics about how long people can stay up if they’re using drugs to keep awake? I’ve heard stories of people staying awake for days at a time on amphetamines which is on the one hand fairly belivable, but on the other hand coming from people who could well have spent the last four days binging on crank… ---
**Author:** ![sunstone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunstone/32/3372_2.png) [@sunstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunstone)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-really-sleep-just-2-hours-a-night/301033/35 "2005-04-27T03:48:45Z")
It seems that about 5-6 hours each night will do it for me, but if I have the time and inclination, a 3 hour nap in the middle of the day is nice…but not required. I’ve always slept less than the legendary 8 hours, but some of my wakefullness is due to pain. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-really-sleep-just-2-hours-a-night/301033.md?page=1)