The same study from above showed that it might be possible to train ourselves to need less sleep. The six 8-hour sleepers continued to reduce sleep by 30m increments until they were sleeping as low as 4.5-hours a night(ouch).
The subjects experienced severe fatigue below the 6.0-hour mark, but I guess their suffering was in the name of science...
After the study was over, the researchers caught up with the subjects the following year. It turned out that all subjects were naturally, by choice, sleeping 1-2hours below their pre-study baseline -i.e they were sleeping 6-7hours instead of 8.
Is this evidence that by gradually reducing our sleep need and giving our bodies time to adapt we can make a permanent change in our sleep need?
Perhaps.
