Is getting 6 hours of sleep one night and 10 hours the next equivalent to sleeping 8 hours and 8 hours?

Question

Is getting 6 hours of sleep one night and 10 hours the next equivalent to sleeping 8 hours and 8 hours?

In: Biology

Answer 1

When you sleep, your body is cleaning your brain (repairing cells, removing junk chemicals, etc). It can only get so clean, so there’s only so much sleep that will benefit you. If you are sleep deprived, your brain builds up grime so you can definitely end up in a bad sleep deficit (like letting dishes accumulate in your sink over several days) But sleeping for 12 hours doesn’t make the brain any “cleaner” than sleeping 8.