Preliminary Study of Endurance and Perceptual Change in Sleep Deprivation

The study reported in this paper is the result of an opportunistic series of observations which the authors intend to follow up with careful experimentation. The opportunity to observe fairly prolonged sleep deprivation presented itself when a talkathon contest was held in Toronto in the spring of 1959. Contestants were required to talk continuously, with a 10-min. break each hour, and'were not allowed to sleep. Anyone who remained in the contest for 88 consecutive hours was awarded a cash prize. Two questions were asked. First, what are some of the predictors of endurance in a situation of this kind? Second, does sleep deprivation lead to changes in perception of time, space and body, and a feeling of unreality? This study can provide only the tentative answers to these questions since the observational situation allowed very little control.