Are Smart People More Sleep Deprived? The Myth Debunked

You've probably heard it before: geniuses burn the midnight oil, running on less sleep than us mere mortals. Einstein only needed four hours! Tesla practically never slept! High IQ equals high-functioning insomnia, right?

Wrong. This myth gets the relationship between intelligence and sleep completely backwards.

What the Science Actually Shows

A 2023 study published in the Journal of Sleep Research flipped the script on this popular belief. Researchers found that while people with higher fluid intelligence perform better on cognitive tasks when well-rested, they actually crash harder when sleep deprived. Their arithmetic ability, spatial working memory, and episodic memory took bigger hits compared to people with average intelligence.

Think of it like this: a Ferrari performs better than a Honda on a full tank, but it also sputters more dramatically when you're running on fumes.

The Night Owl Confusion

Part of this myth comes from conflating two different things: sleep timing versus sleep duration. Some research has found that highly intelligent people tend to stay up later, but here's the kicker—a study in Scientific Reports discovered this had nothing to do with their brains needing less sleep.

When researchers looked at Mensa members (people in the top 2% of IQ), they found their later bedtimes were fully explained by their later work schedules. It wasn't a biological difference—it was a lifestyle choice enabled by flexible jobs.

Smart people who stay up late aren't defying their need for sleep. They're just going to bed and waking up later, getting the same 7-9 hours the rest of us need.

Why Smart People Can't Skimp on Sleep

Here's the irony: the cognitive advantages that come with higher intelligence—better problem-solving, sharper memory, faster processing—are the exact things that disappear first when you don't get enough sleep.

• Sleep deprivation impairs the prefrontal cortex, which handles complex reasoning
• Memory consolidation happens during sleep, especially REM sleep
• Sleep spindles (neural oscillations during deep sleep) are linked to intelligence markers
• Chronic sleep loss leads to long-term cognitive decline, regardless of baseline IQ

A 2024 study of university students in Tokyo and London found that poor sleep quality tanked performance on tests measuring attention, memory, and executive functions. Your brain on insufficient sleep is like a smartphone at 5% battery—technically functional, but not for long.

The Bottom Line

No one is smart enough to outsmart their biology. The idea that intelligent people are more likely to be sleep deprived is a myth—possibly perpetuated by successful people humble-bragging about their work ethic, or by the romanticization of the tortured genius burning the candle at both ends.

The reality? Your brain needs sleep to be smart. Higher IQ doesn't mean you need less of it. If anything, you need it more to maintain your cognitive edge. So if you're staying up late thinking you're channeling your inner Einstein, remember: even geniuses need their rest. The science is clear, and it doesn't care how high your IQ is.