Why Some People Thrive on Four Hours of Sleep

"Osmond, her siblings, and her father were what scientists call natural short sleepers. Some people don't sleep enough because they have insomnia, or work a night shift; they tend to struggle with exhaustion, cognitive impairment, and even long-term health issues, such as elevated rates of depression and a higher risk of heart attack. But short sleepers, who make up less than one per cent of the population, spend significantly less time snoozing without any apparent health consequences."

"When Joanne Osmond was growing up, in rural Pennsylvania, her family had two nighttime rules: you had to stay in your room, and you had to be quiet. There was no rule that you had to be asleep-which was fortunate, because Osmond, her three brothers, and her two sisters rarely were. Osmond stayed up late reading novels from her school library. Her sisters loved solving crossword puzzles. Even her father, an engineer, tinkered with television sets late at night and early in the morning."

Joanne Osmond grew up in rural Pennsylvania where family nighttime rules required staying in the room and being quiet, but not being asleep. Osmond, her three brothers, her two sisters, and their father often stayed awake late reading, solving crossword puzzles, and tinkering with electronics. They are natural short sleepers who routinely need far less sleep without apparent health consequences. Short sleepers make up less than one per cent of the population and differ from people with insomnia or shift-work sleep loss, who suffer exhaustion, cognitive impairment, depression, and higher cardiovascular risk. Osmond learned in 2011 that she carries a genetic variation linked to short sleep; her sisters were tested in 2019. At seventy-seven, Osmond sleeps no more than four hours nightly.

Read at The New Yorker