An extra hour of sleep is not just a pleasant — it can make a real impact on ur physical and cognitive health. Going from 7.5 to 6.5 hours of sleep made participants in a recent study struggle on cognitive tests. Unfortunately, catching up on sleep over the weekend is not a solution: memories need to be moved from short- to long-term memory within 24 hours of of being formed before you run the risk of forgetting them. In addition, over 500 genes are affected by lack of sleep, and losing just one hour of sleep increased activity in genes linked to inflammation, immune response, stress response, and even risk of cancer. The good news: this gene activity reversed when person added an hour of sleep back into their schedule. Do you get as much sleep as you need