Study: Sleep Deprivation Makes Intelligence Decline

urang not only affects the health of the body, but also the grade point average (GPA) among students.

It was found in a recent study that mentions the effects of sleep deprivation as well as drunkenness due to alcohol and drugs.

Studies show that students who experience sleep disturbances every night are associated with a decrease of 0.02 points from their GPA. The GPA results are the opposite of students who sleep well.

In addition, students who sleep less are also 10 percent more likely to skip class than those who do not.

"Someone who regularly rests well has a GPA of 0.14 higher than someone who is always sleepy," said the study's author, J. Roxanne Prichard, who is a scientific director at the Center for College Sleep, University of St. Thomas the United States, quoted Reuters.

Prichard explained, students with sufficient rest time can learn and complete work and problems more efficiently. Whereas when lack of sleep, the body tends to feel anxious, depressed, and other diseases appear that can interfere with the effectiveness of learning.

The findings of this study were obtained after analyzing 55,322 students in the United States surveyed in 2009. On average students have a GPA of 3.21 and as many as 2.4 nights have difficulty sleeping.

The study also found first year students to be the most vulnerable students to sleep deprivation that would affect the GPA.

In new students, the researchers said, the impact of sleep deprivation on the GPA was the same as consuming alcohol and drug use. As for senior students, the effects of sleep deprivation are just as bad as 'rough relationships'.

Researchers then conclude that students can improve sleep quality to be more effective when studying in class.

"Overall, this study shows that individuals with sleep complaints in college have more difficulty maintaining academic value. Too little sleep can affect attention and memory, both of which are very important for academics.