Simply sleeping late on Saturday doesn’t counter the ill-effects
of a lack of sleep during the week. In tests, researchers found
that a 10-hour “recovery” snooze was not sufficient to make up
for a few nights of four hours of sleep. Participants scored
poorly in measures of attention span and reaction times. The
study counters the currently held view that there is “tremendous
recovery” in just one night’s sleep. It means several nights of
extra sleep may be needed for those who have been burning the
candle at both ends. “The bottom line is that adequate recovery
sleep duration is important for coping with the effects of
chronic sleep restriction on the brain” “Lifestyles that involve
chronic sleep restriction during the work week and during days
off work may result in continuing build-up of sleep pressure and
in an increased likelihood of loss of alertness and increased
errors.” “The bottom line is that adequate recovery sleep
duration is important for coping with the effects of chronic
sleep restriction on t