Healthier To Be a Night Owl?

Sunday, 13 September 2009

Healthier To Be a Night Owl?

According to an Scientific American article (link) on early risers, an hour and a half after waking, early birds and night owls were equally alert and showed no difference in attention-related brain activity. But after being awake for 10 and a half hours, night owls had grown more alert, performing better on a reaction-time task requiring sustained attention and showing increased activity in brain areas linked to attention.

Are you a night owl, or an early riser? Which do you think is healthier?

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Night Owl all the way =) ,

I have insomnia and I agree with the study , but eventually someone like me will crash and burn and I will develope the attention span of a corpse =( . but I do find that I don't eat as much and I have lost weight , I am on the fence as far as it being healthy or not though = /
- 9/13/2009 11:27 PM
- Fantasysfan@xanga (message)
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That's interesting. I'm a night owl.
- 9/13/2009 11:32 PM
- fried_ryce@xanga (message)
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early riser :D
- 9/13/2009 11:35 PM
- soberheartss@xanga (message)
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Night owl :)
- 9/13/2009 11:39 PM
- zxzeebrastar@xanga (message)
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I'm a night owlll. I don't usually get tired until about three or four hours after waking up. I get sooo hyper, then I get super exausted.(spelled that wrong) Then I come home from school and crash for a few hours.
- 9/13/2009 11:53 PM
- lynnannnnn@xanga (message)
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I'm a night owl. I guess I do agree with the study, though if I go several days in a row on too little sleep, by Friday my attention span is so gone.

Though there are occasions where not getting enough sleep results in me being really, really hyper, so I don't know.
- 9/13/2009 11:53 PM
- xo_lovelyx@xanga (message)
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I'm a night owl for sure, and it really works for me. I am thinking about becoming a firefighter after I become a Paramedic so w/ those jobs... 48 hr. shifts & 13 hr. shifts working graveyard I better be a night owl!
- 9/13/2009 11:58 PM
- AmataGirl@xanga (message)
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I'm a night owl, so I hope it's healthy. I've tried for years to be alert in the morning, but I just can't do it. I am so much more creative at night too. I don't think either one is healthier across the board. I would think that it would be best to sleep the way your own natural cycles go though.
- 9/14/2009 12:10 AM
- Riftsong@xanga (message)
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night owl
- 9/14/2009 12:12 AM
- Peridot21@xanga (message)
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Probably more of a night owl.
- 9/14/2009 12:14 AM
- laytexduckie@xanga (message)
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Hoot hoot!
- 9/14/2009 12:22 AM
- Shy___Away@xanga (message)
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I'm both, oddly enough.
- 9/14/2009 12:24 AM
- SoHoian_NightOwl@xanga (message)
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- 9/14/2009 1:34 AM
- Howardvern@xanga (message)
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Yay for being a night owl. :D
- 9/14/2009 1:45 AM
- pizo_Okie@xanga (message)
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Night owl. (:
- 9/14/2009 2:19 AM
- EverlastingSimplicity@xanga (message)
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well when you lose sleep you can never 'make it up' so to speak. and when you sleep during the night some kind of chemical is released into your system that helps your body function (I don't remember what it is a friend who is a nurse told me all this).
i think it is best to try maintain a balance between the two.
- 9/14/2009 3:00 AM
- tom_ko@xanga (message)
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I've been a night owl ever since I was a kid! Check out the 254 Articles I wrote late at night on Love, Relationships, Dating & much more, at:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/hananahnow

Hannah
- 9/14/2009 4:29 AM
- HannahNow@xanga (message)
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Yeah. I find myself concentrate better at night.
- 9/14/2009 4:34 AM
- TequilaKisses@xanga (message)
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I think early-riser, only because I do both on a daily basis, and when I wake up early, I start groggy at first, but get to it. When I am a night owl, I am out of it all day.
- 9/14/2009 4:40 AM
- dandymandie@xanga (message)
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(*v*) night owl.
- 9/14/2009 7:10 AM
- suicidalspirit@xanga (message)
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it's true that i tend to feel more awake after a longer period when i'm a night owl hehe. but i'm in-between during school days and night owl during holidays.
- 9/14/2009 7:14 AM
- xueyo@xanga (message)
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I'm a bit of both. I'm definitely a night owl, but I don't like waking up very late either. This can be a problem since they clash, but given that I'm in college now, this schedule is something of a given :P

It's probably not a matter of being a 'morning person' or a 'night owl', but just getting more sleep overall is what's best for your health.
- 9/14/2009 7:45 AM
- lapis_lazuli917@xanga (message)
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YES! I am a night owl! All my high school teachers and their early riser theories can suck it.
- 9/14/2009 9:34 AM
- xa06@xanga (message)
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I used to be a night owl, but as soon as I started college I became an early riser. Weird, I know, but I just can't seem to sleep past 6:30 anymore. Even I do miraculously manage to stay awake until the late hours of the night, I'll still wake up at 6 or 6:30. So, rather than fight it, I just get up and go to the gym. Keeps me wide and alerted and all day long, until about 9:30-10 pm when I go brain dead and crash!
- 9/14/2009 10:14 AM
- meadow_clock@xanga (message)
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night owl
- 9/14/2009 10:19 AM
- yuk_lui@xanga (message)
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