'Need for Sleep': Even elite students are not spared

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-02/dms-fs022916.php

Public Release: 29-Feb-2016
'Need for Sleep': Even elite students are not spared
Duke-NUS Medical School

The legendary work ethic of East Asian students may have driven them to the top of the standardised test leaderboard but researchers at Duke-NUS Medical School (Duke-NUS) found that adolescents who sleep five hours a night for a week experience significant cognitive degradation. These findings caution against the levels of sleep curtailment practiced by as many as half of East Asian students in their headlong pursuit of higher grades.

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"East Asian societies highly value academic achievement as a yardstick of success and the need to push harder and for longer is deeply ingrained. The present findings should cause students, parents and educators to reflect on how they use time more efficiently to allow for sufficient nocturnal sleep. This would enable them to realise the benefits of the hard work they put in," added Professor Michael Chee, senior author and Director of the Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience at Duke-NUS.