according to recent news reports, it’s a myth that we all need eight hours sleep a night – because a study involving hunter-gatherer societies in Africa and South America, whose habits are thought to mirror how humans used to live, showed they made do with six.
In fact, the research from UCLA and other universities, which spurred the news stories, said no such thing. The research was measuring sleep duration in a very specific way, a highly technical approach not reflected in the reporting of the study’s conclusions.
Modern life is rubbish? Sleep is just the same as ever, say scientists
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But if you are looking for sleep myths to debunk, here are six that have come out of our research review at Oxford’s Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences this year.