Sleep patterns/schedules and academic
performance
As seen in the previous section, sleep has a relevant
facilitating role in learning and memory processes.
Conversely, sleep deprivation and/or fragmentation
usually impairs these functions. In the following,
we will review the most relevant contributions
in the literature investigating the effects of sleep
patterns and schedules on academic performance
of school and university students. It should be
stressed that most of these studies correlated
sleep-wake patterns with subjective (self- or
parent-reported) academic achievement or with
rough estimates of behaviours associated with
daytime sleepiness, and, as a consequence, they
are intrinsically correlational.