Randy Gardner sleep deprivation experiment

For other people with the same name, see Randy Gardner (disambiguation)
Randy Gardner
Born1946 (age 77–78)
OccupationRecord holder
Known forLongest time without sleep

Randy Gardner (born c. 1946) is an American man from San Diego, California, who once held the record for the longest amount of time a human has gone without sleep. In December 1963/January 1964, 17-year-old Gardner stayed awake for 11 days and 24 minutes (264.4 hours), breaking the previous record of 260 hours held by Tom Rounds.[1][2] Gardner’s record was then broken multiple times until 1997, when Guinness World Records ceased accepting new attempts for safety reasons.[3] At that point, the record was held by Robert McDonald at 18 days and 21 hours (453 hours and 40 minutes).

Gardner's record attempt was attended by Stanford sleep researcher Dr. William C. Dement, while his health was monitored by Lt. Cmdr. John J. Ross.[1] A log was kept by two of Gardner's classmates from Point Loma High School, Bruce McAllister and Joe Marciano Jr.[4] Accounts of Gardner's sleep deprivation experience and medical response became widely known among the sleep research community.[5][6][7]

  1. ^ a b Coren, Stanley (1 March 2000). "Sleep Deprivation, Psychosis and Mental Efficiency". Psychiatric Times. 15 (3). Archived from the original on 2024-01-05. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
  2. ^ Keating, Sarah. "The boy who stayed awake for 11 days". www.bbc.com.
  3. ^ https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2023/1/whats-the-limit-to-how-long-a-human-can-stay-awake-733188 [bare URL]
  4. ^ Phil McHahan (1964). George P. Hunt (ed.). "No Sleep for 11 Days". LIFE. Vol. 56, no. 7. pp. 71–72.
  5. ^ Eleven days awake, Extract from "Elephants on Acid: And Other Bizarre Experiments," by Alex Boese. Archived November 29, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ Elephants on Acid: And Other Bizarre Experiments, Alex Boese, ISBN 0-15-603135-3, Harvest Books, 5 Nov 2007
  7. ^ Neurological Findings After Prolonged Sleep Deprivation, Ross J. (1965), Archives of Neurology 12:399-403.