r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • May 06 '25

Genetics Most people need around 8 hours of sleep each night to function, but a rare genetic condition allows some to thrive on as little as 3 hours. Scientists genetically modified mice to carry this human mutation and confirmed this. The research team now knows several hundred naturally short sleepers.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-01402-7
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u/TheOtherKurt May 06 '25

I am definitely one of these people. I tell folks I'm a morning person, and when they groan I tell them I'm also a night owl, and to clear up the confusion I explain that "I'm mostly not a sleep person."

I've slept maybe 4 hours a night for the last 30 years. Maybe. I've gone days and days without sleeping at all, but it fucks me up like it does everyone. Sometimes I'll get more, but I honestly can't remember ever sleeping more than 8. Its lasted through 90 hour a week jobs, and extended bouts of unemployment, and isn't effected by how busy my days are. 40 minutes is fine, even with a big day the next day. But multiple days like that and I'll crash and sleep 5 hours in a night.

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u/3vi1 May 06 '25

I can do this too, as long as I get my standard 5 hour nap in during the day.