A failure to sleep is a plan to fail

WINNIPEG (CUP) -- New research suggests that the later you stay up, the worse your grades will be, regardless of whether or not you spend the time studying.

Pamela Thatcher, a St. Lawrence University psychology professor, recently completed a study which found that staying up all-night studying instead of sleeping actually lowers, rather than raises, GPAs.

Thatcher observed 111 students, focusing specifically on their sleep patterns and transcripts, to find the connection between sleep and grades.

Thatcher also observed the participants to see if procrastination played a large part in pulling all-nighters but reported in her study that, in fact, procrastination showed no connection with the nocturnal studying.

She did find, however, that both all-nighters and procrastination were associated with lower GPAs.

A small proportion of the study's participants did not experience lowered grades despite pulling all-nighters, but Thatcher said that such cases were rare.

The study will be published in the January issue of Behavioral Sleep Medicine.