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The Teen Who Stayed Awake for 11 Days | Smartest Year Ever (July 22, 2025)
What’s the longest anyone has ever stayed awake—and what actually happens to your brain when you push the limits of sleep deprivation?
In this episode of Smartest Year Ever, Gordy dives into the wild, real-life story of a 17-year-old student who broke the boundaries of human endurance in the name of science—and lived to tell the tale. From hallucinations and microsleeps to the strange truth behind why your brain literally cleans itself during deep sleep, this is one of the most fascinating stories in the history of neuroscience.
Why did Guinness ban sleep deprivation records? What’s the deal with the brain’s glymphatic system? And is it really possible to die from not sleeping?
This episode is part of Brain Week—a 7-day exploration of the mind’s weirdest, wildest, and most misunderstood quirks.
Don’t miss it.
Sources:
Dement, W. C. (1999). The Promise of Sleep. Delacorte Press.
Durmer, J. S., & Dinges, D. F. (2005). Neurocognitive consequences of sleep deprivation. Seminars in Neurology, 25(1), 117–129.
Mednick, S. C., Nakayama, K., & Stickgold, R. (2002). The restorative effect of naps on perceptual deterioration. Nature Neuroscience, 5, 677–681.
National Sleep Foundation. (n.d.). What happens when you don’t sleep?
BBC Future. (2021). The strange tale of the teenager who stayed awake for 11 days.
Harvard Health. (n.d.). What happens when you don’t sleep?
#SleepDeprivation #BrainFacts #SmartestYearEver #Neuroscience #DailyFacts #SleepScience Music thanks to Zapsplat.
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By GordyWhat’s the longest anyone has ever stayed awake—and what actually happens to your brain when you push the limits of sleep deprivation?
In this episode of Smartest Year Ever, Gordy dives into the wild, real-life story of a 17-year-old student who broke the boundaries of human endurance in the name of science—and lived to tell the tale. From hallucinations and microsleeps to the strange truth behind why your brain literally cleans itself during deep sleep, this is one of the most fascinating stories in the history of neuroscience.
Why did Guinness ban sleep deprivation records? What’s the deal with the brain’s glymphatic system? And is it really possible to die from not sleeping?
This episode is part of Brain Week—a 7-day exploration of the mind’s weirdest, wildest, and most misunderstood quirks.
Don’t miss it.
Sources:
Dement, W. C. (1999). The Promise of Sleep. Delacorte Press.
Durmer, J. S., & Dinges, D. F. (2005). Neurocognitive consequences of sleep deprivation. Seminars in Neurology, 25(1), 117–129.
Mednick, S. C., Nakayama, K., & Stickgold, R. (2002). The restorative effect of naps on perceptual deterioration. Nature Neuroscience, 5, 677–681.
National Sleep Foundation. (n.d.). What happens when you don’t sleep?
BBC Future. (2021). The strange tale of the teenager who stayed awake for 11 days.
Harvard Health. (n.d.). What happens when you don’t sleep?
#SleepDeprivation #BrainFacts #SmartestYearEver #Neuroscience #DailyFacts #SleepScience Music thanks to Zapsplat.