n=1 studies

Now, how shall I entertain you after 26 hrs of total sleep deprivation with no pharmaceutical intervention save Fair Trade teabags and cheese? Perhaps to comment that one feels so much better at 26 hrs in the control condition (sleep dep alone) than after earlier administration of exogenous intoxicants (sleep dep + psychopharmacological agent). This has been tentatively validated in a 25 year longitudinal, double-crossover, unblinded n=1 study to be written up as a case report for the Lancet.

I shan't bore with the evidence linking sleep in humans to the maintenance of higher cortical function, especially pre-frontal areas' regulation of behavioural and cognitive impulse, perseveration and planning. And I'm off already in a fullblown pre-frontal manner. Luckily, I'll be cured by a recovery sleep packed full of chunky goodness, with over-representations of deep NREM sleep and REM.