What is the Relationship Between Intelligence and When People Go to Sleep?

People with higher intelligence quotients (IQs) tend to go to bed later and wake up later. A study from the London School of Economics found that people who display "eveningness," such as being more prone to stay up at night, demonstrate "a higher level of cognitive complexity." It's not all good news for night owls, though — a separate study found that those who go to bed and rise late are more prone to depression and anxiety and are less reliable than people who are early birds.

More facts about sleep schedules:

• Research indicates that almost half of sleep-time choices are dictated by genetics.


• Most people's "eveningness" tendencies peak between the ages of 17 and 21. After that, people tend to become more morning-oriented.


• Some people don't display either "morningness" or "eveningness;" rather, they have polyphasic sleep, which means they sleep more than two times in 24 hours. One of the most famous polyphasic sleepers was Leonardo da Vinci, who reportedly slept for only two hours a day, on average.