Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hi. I am in the 8th grade and I am about to participate in my school's annual science fair. My partner and I have chosen to do a sleep deprivation project. We will stay awake for 48 hr. and conduct a series of tests on eachother. I am very excited about our project and we have received parental consent, however I am nervous that we may have side-effects from the experiment. If anyone knows if this is a safe project, I would really appreciate hearing from you.
Sincerely,
A concerned student

benz56:

This is a relatively safe project. During the period of sleep deprivation do not comsume anything with caffeine.

What generally happens with sleep deprivation is an imparement of decision making skills. You will think slower, react slower, forget simple things until you go through a rest/recharge period.

Check with your teacher/advisor before starting the project.

Matt Mulanax

You will want to try to find something you can measure that indicates your degree of tiredness - something independent of just how you feel.

Some possibilities might be reaction time, scores on standardized tests (reading comprehension, memory, IQ or math all are available) or something like how many baskets you can score from the free throw line. Measure every few hours perhaps.

48 hours awake won't be risky if you don't intend to operate heavy machinery or drive or do something involving reflexes like riding a bicycle. Have some people who have had enough sleep watch you, both to ensure you don't go to sleep and to make sure you are staying safe.

Sounds like a neat project. There's a long history of research into sleep deprivation, and as far as I know no one has ever reported any long term health problems. As others have said, operating heavy machinery or trying to drive would be a really bad idea.

But this is far outside of my field - I'm just an interested amateur when it comes to sleep research. Don't take anything I say as medical advice.

Speaking only from personal experience, I'd caution you not to freak out too much if toward the end you experience occasional waves of panic or paranoia or even mild hallucinations. I'm not sure how common it is, but after a few nights without sleep I tend to see occasional false motion and jittery vibration at the very periphery of my vision and to hear indistinct and seemingly distant crackling and booming sounds. I also tend to get momentary (5-10 second duration) feelings of panic. They disappear quickly and only happen every few hours, but it's a strange feeling.

I've never found either experience to be dangerous or particularly unpleasant, but if you aren't expecting them, you might find them somewhat disturbing. (If you are expecting them, they can be fun to play around with.) They always dissapear completely after even a couple hours of sleep.

Then again, you may not experience anything of the kind, especially if you start out well rested and stop the experiment at 48 hours.

The hardest part may be trying to stay awake. If you can stay with your partner the whole time (or at least during the interval when everyone else is asleep), you'll be able to keep each other awake. A fast paced video game might be a reasonably pleasant way to get through the tough periods.

best,
Erik

Hey benz56,

Excellent idea for a project!

One suggestion to further the experiment: after the 48 hours of not sleeping, have one person ingest copious amounts of caffeine.
There are also serious effects of overdosing on caffeine (excessive giddiness, overreacting to small events, not thinking a problem thoroughly...)

This way you could find out which is worse: not enough energy or too much energy.

I hope this is useful.

aznnerd666

I would recommend not overdosing on caffeine for a couple reasons.

1. Safety. Caffeine IS a stimulant and it has effects such as increasing heartrate and blood pressure, and puts extra strain on the kidneys and (like any drug or toxin) the liver. While it is unlikely to cause long term harm, some chance exists, especially if the person doing so is unfamiliar with the effects of the drug.

2. Introduction of a new variable - the effects of caffeine on countering sleep deprivation is at least a 2-variable problem instead of a 1-variable problem, and in reality it probably is more since the actual effects of the drug depend heavily on the habituation of the person taking it, plus the usual things like body weight, metabolism, etc.

Given the variation in response to caffeine, I'd recommend not allowing either subject to ingest caffeine or any other stimulant during the test. I'd also recommend controlling food intake, since that also has a pretty large effect on fatigue and energy levels. Balanced meals for all subjects at regular intervals in size/calories appropriate to body weight can minimize that variable.