Early Risers Crash Faster Than People Who Stay Up Late: Scientific American
2009-09-12 12:08 - Links
An hour and a half after waking, early birds and night owls were equally alert and showed no difference in attention-related brain activity. But after being awake for 10 and a half hours, night owls had grown more alert, performing better on a reaction-time task requiring sustained attention and showing increased activity in brain areas linked to attention.
Nifty. Scientific evidence that sleeping in is good for you! I've noticed this a bit myself very recently; as I started working a 9-5, rather than 10-6, schedule, I had to shift waking up an hour earlier. After that, it got way easier to fall asleep at night. I just got tired sooner, earlier.