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    What staying up all night does to your brain – Anna Rothschild



    Explore how pulling an all-nighter can impact your cognitive function, and find out what happens to your brain when you don’t sleep.

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    You’re just one history final away from a relaxing spring break. But you still have so much to study! You decide to follow in the footsteps of many students before you, and pull an all-nighter. So, what happens to your brain when you stay up all night? And does cramming like this actually help you prepare for a test? Anna Rothschild explores how a sleepless night impacts your cognitive function.

    Lesson by Anna Rothschild, directed by Biljana Labović.
    Animation by Noam Sussman & Ali Kellner, Homework Studio.

    This video made possible in collaboration with the Bezos Family Foundation
    Learn more about how TED-Ed partnerships work: https://bit.ly/TEDEdPartner

    A special thanks to Dr. Mathias Basner, Andrew Fuligni, Adriana Galván, and UCLA Center for the Developing Adolescent who provided information and insights for the development of this video.

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    View 25 Comments

    25 Comments

    4. @AS_SONG_COVER on

      Due to my exams, I stayed up for 3.5 days, but my performance declined exponentially. I thought it would give me extra time, but instead, I ended up with bad grades and now feel guilty about it.

    7. @KeisiLaKreisi on

      I havent pulled an all nighter for any of my exams.

      Because teachers told me that they dont expect you to know EVERYTHING but they hope that you at least have general knowledge to answer all the questions even when you're not sure.

      Try to revise regularly, even if its little time a day, it's better that way.

    13. @harshitgupta5938 on

      Been pulling all nighters since past few weeks, yesterday i slept at 6 woke up at 12 and my legs started shaking badly for some reason lmao, Hope i will be alive after my exams!!

    22. @edith53240 on

      Yupp its simple…
      Imagine ur brain is a Gaming phone..
      Now u r playing games(Studying )in it all day n loading cache files(information) in it …
      But when its time for u to charge the phone
      (equivalent to sleep) U r avoiding it
      How long will u be able to use the phone (Brain)in the long term? eventually it will SHUT DOWN

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