Does Lack of Sleep Affect Cognitive Abilities and Exam Performance?

[Entanglement]

I think I'll have to sleep for only 3 hours every night for the next month because of my final exams. Has anyone who spent a while sleeping so little ever felt significant effect on their cognitive abilities, memory, or anxiety? Accordingly, will this affect how well one does on the exam?
I'd like to learn from your experiences. [emoji4]

 

[berkeman]

I think I'll have to sleep for only 3 hours every night for the next month because of my final exams. Has anyone who spent a while sleeping so little ever felt significant effect on their cognitive abilities, memory, or anxiety? Accordingly, will this affect how well one does on the exam?
I'd like to learn from your experiences. [emoji4]

I see from your PF Profile page that you are interested in the field of medicine. What do you think some of the effects will be?

 

[Entanglement]

I see from your PF Profile page that you are interested in the field of medicine. What do you think some of the effects will be?

It surely has horrible and damaging effects in the long run but I was wondering if anyone has actually experienced sleep deprivation for only a short time like a month or so to get something done before a deadline or to study for exams. Is it worth it? What is it like when it comes to weighing the pros and cons?

 

[rolotomassi]

For me lack of sleep one of most disastrous things that can effect you in general, anytime, let alone during exams. Memory, cognitive skills are degraded for sure. In extreme cases, i.e. several days, lack of sleep can lead to hallucinations, flashing lights and odd perception of sounds. In my experience it induced further insomnia. I would definitely rethink your intention of a 3 hour sleep regime.

I would add a month is not a short time, people have lost their minds in less.

 

[Evo]

There is no way that anecdotes from people can be of any help to you as everyone is different. There are studies on long term effects, but the effect that short term sleep deprivation will have on you, only you know.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21075236