Feature

Dying to Sleep

Getting too little sleep can impair body and brain and could even be deadly

By Tina Hesman Saey

- More than 2 years ago

For many people, days just don’t seem long enough. In order to cram everything into one 24-hour period, something has to give. Judging by many surveys of Americans, it’s sleep.

Dying to sleep, by Tina Hesman Saey | Photo: Tommy Leonardi
SLEEPY DRIVERS Sleepy volunteers put pedal to the metal in a University of Pennsylvania driving simulator. Lab technician Christopher Jones demonstrates: electrodes on his head register brain waves on an EEG and the simulator measures his driving performance.