Without enough sleep, people can become cranky and depressed. During sleep, the brain clears its short-term memory banks, where the day's events are stored temporarily. And if you wake up before your biological clock is ready, you may miss out on the phase of sleep that improves memory and learning. One doesn't cause the other, but there is a statistical relationship. In the Brown University study, melatonin levels were still high during morning classes.
Lack of sleep leads to accidents.
But don't tell that to teens who live in Minnesota. After reading research into teen sleep patterns, two Minneapolis psychiatrists argued that the School District should push back local high schools' start times. Maryland, Kentucky, and California superintendents are also looking into the idea of changing school start times to better match student wake-sleep cycles. Until YOUR school gets on the bandwagon, you may have to be creative about getting enough sleep. Parents and teachers might say the solution is getting to bed by 10pm, but if you are like most teens, it can be hard to fall sleep until well after midnight.