[media-credit name=’AJ Maclean’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]It’s the week before finals, and all through the town, students are suffering from severe sleep deprivation as they struggle to cram a semester’s worth of knowledge into their short-term memory.

College students are among the most sleep-deprived people in the country, probably due to their notoriously irregular sleeping habits, according to the Brown University health website.

Yet staying up all night to study may not be the most effective way to learn.

“Pulling all-nighters can interfere with your ability to learn new material,” the website states. “You can memorize facts during an all-night study session and recall the information through short-term memory for a test the next day, but you will most likely have to re-learn the material for a later cumulative exam.”

James McMurray, a University of Wisconsin assistant professor in the Medical School, said pulling an all-nighter can even break student concentration during an exam.

“When you’re well-rested you do better even if you haven’t studied quite as long,” he said. “It’s better to try to plan ahead and start early so you can still get sleep. Keep a regular sleeping pattern. Get in a routine. Then you can stick to that as you get into a stressful period.”

McMurray added, however, that few people have mastered the art of time management.

“It’s what we should really strive for,” he said. “It really does work. We’d all be better off.”

Lack of sleep decreases daytime function and can weaken the immune system.

It can also result in irritability, depression, tension, confusion and lower life satisfaction, according to the Brown University website.

“These mood changes may also result from irregular sleeping patterns, including sleeping in on the weekends,” the website reads.

McMurray listed chronic fatigue as the main result of sleep deprivation.

“The brain doesn’t work as well,” he said. “Depending on the cause, you can have trouble with your heart.”

Some people suffer from sleep apnea, McMurray noted, a disorder that disrupts breathing at night. There are two forms of sleep apnea: central, in which the brain “forgets” to send the body a message to breathe, and obstructive.

A recent study showed that people who kept late hours were more likely to gain weight. According to USA Today, sleep deprivation triggers increased levels of a hunger hormone and decreases hormone levels that make people feel full, leading many to late-night snacking.

McMurray said he believes the body grows satiated and as a result “you feel hungry all the time.”

Some students resort to taking drugs like Aderol or Ritalin to stay awake while studying for exams.

“You really shouldn’t be able to get a hold of those medications; they’re prescriptive,” McMurray said, adding that the drugs are potentially addictive and very powerful. “Those drugs are great if you have attention deficit disorder, but if you don’t, it’s really not that helpful. You just get jazzed up and you could perhaps worsen your performance.”

Nate Johnson, a UW junior, said he typically gets five hours of sleep each night, although during exam time he sleeps even less and has relied on caffeine pills to stay awake. He reported feeling “pretty stressed out” for finals this semester.

He reported takings several caffeine pills Monday night.