From being linked to metabolism to seasonal depression, The Huffington Post details five ways a person’s genes and genetics can influence sleep.
How can some people get by on six hours of sleep, while others struggle with anything less than nine? Why does depression often go hand in hand with poor sleep? And why is good sleep so critical to overall metabolism?
The answers to all of these questions may lie in our genes.
Although the science of sleep is still young, scientists have uncovered a number of surprising ways that genes might affect your sleep. Here are five:
1. “Short-sleepers” can get by on just 4 to 6 hours a night.
In 2009, researchers at the University of California, San Francisco discovered a gene mutation that allows some people to feel refreshed on much less sleep than the normal population — as little as 4 hours a night, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The gene is heritable and rare. So for the rest of us, a minimum of 7.5 hours it is.
Huffington Post has about the scientific credibility as MAD magazine.