![\"320d2c787558d30f7f2b69ddc738a28f.webp\"](\"http:\/\/forefrontnews.cn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/320d2c787558d30f7f2b69ddc738a28f.webp.jpg\" "\\"320d2c787558d30f7f2b69ddc738a28f.webp\\"")
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BBC article, Feb. 3, original topic: Can sleep be \u201cstored\u201d in advance for later use? Can \u201cstoring\u201d extra hours of sleep before busy times come more effectively offset the effects of possible sleep deprivation in the coming nights? Some scientists believe that \u201cstoring\u201d sleep for later use may bring various benefits, such as focusing attention or improving athletic performance. According to some studies, \u201csleep saving\u201d may be an effective strategy: extending sleep time for consecutive nights before expected sleep is about to be limited. Researchers say this helps the brain store key resources for later use, improving alertness and cognitive abilities when sleep is inadequate. This concept is becoming increasingly popular among social media health enthusiasts, who strongly advocate sleep saving before long trips or major work activities to improve psychological performance, or as a \u201csafety net\u201d before busy times. So, does it really work?<\/p>\n
Similar to a bank account (where you deposit money in advance to avoid falling into deficit too quickly when withdrawing money), the concept of sleep saving was proposed in 2009 by sleep researchers at the U.S. Waterleaf Army Institute. At the time, a team led by researcher Tracy Rupp was trying to figure out ways to make soldiers more alert before missions, and they wanted to know if extending sleep time earlier would help. The experimenters divided participants into two groups, one group getting three extra hours of sleep each night, and after a period of time, the two groups underwent a sleep-restricted experiment. The results showed that those who got three extra hours of sleep each night had higher alertness and relatively stronger ability to maintain attention during sleep restriction, and they also recovered to baseline performance faster than those who didn\u2018t do sleep saving.<\/p>\n
However, the concept of \u201csleep savings\u201d remains controversial. Not all researchers agree that we can \u201cstore\u201d sleep in advance and \u201cretract\u201d it when we need to stay awake for longer periods. They say that the body has difficulty distinguishing whether it is really \u201cstoring\u201d sleep hours, or compensating for existing sleep debt. Peter Polos, associate professor of sleep medicine at the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine, says, \u201cDuring sleep, various problems related to metabolism, hormones, neurology, and cognition are processed. It is generally thought that, at least for the brain, this is a time to consolidate thoughts or prioritize processing of important \u2018archives.\u2019\u201d On a physiological level, sleep is very important to the trillions of cells in our bodies.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll cells need healthy sleep to replenish energy and repair,\u201d says Michael Howell, a neurology professor at the University of Minnesota, but within the so-called \u201csleep savings\u201d period, we can\u2018t guarantee that we\u2019ll sleep deeply for long enough, or that we\u2019ll be able to freely control our sleep time. Elizabeth Kellerman, a neurology professor at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, believes that sleep is more like a credit card than a savings box. \u201cIn other words, you can accumulate debt, but you can\u2018t accumulate balance.\u201d And long-term sleep irregularity can have long-term negative effects on body and mind. (author Katie Wright)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BBC article, Feb. 3, original topic: Can sleep be \u201cstored\u201d in advance for later use? Can \u201cstoring\u201d extra hours of sleep before busy times come more effectively offset the effects… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8015,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[260,262],"tags":[782,4289,4290],"views":89,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/forefrontnews.cn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8014"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/forefrontnews.cn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/forefrontnews.cn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/forefrontnews.cn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/forefrontnews.cn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8014"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/forefrontnews.cn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8014\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8016,"href":"http:\/\/forefrontnews.cn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8014\/revisions\/8016"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/forefrontnews.cn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/forefrontnews.cn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/forefrontnews.cn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/forefrontnews.cn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}