I've already written that insomnia can negatively affect cognitive function - now it would seem that sleep deprivation can actually lower your intelligence (and make you feel slightly tipsy).
According to a professor at the University of British Columbia, we lose one IQ point for every hour of sleep we miss out on the night before.
Miss out on 4 hours last night? That's 4 IQ points gone right there.
Fortunately, there's no suggestion that these effects are cumulative (we'd all be reduced to slobbering fools after a few weeks if that was the case).
That being said, perhaps we should just take this news with a glass of wine or beer - apparently, sleep deprivation comes with effects similar to those we experience when we're drunk anyway.
Cheers!
(I think)
Sources: University of BC & Occupational and Environmental Medicine
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Last updated: February 7, 2013
