Women 'need more sleep' than men

A leading sleep expert has confirmed that women require more sleep each night than men.

Some 20 minutes more sleep is required by the average woman than by men, according to the UK's leading sleep expert.

"Women tend to multi-task - they do lots at once and are flexible - and so they use more of their actual brain than men do. Because of that, their sleep need is greater," professor Jim Horne, director of the Loughborough University's Sleep Research Centre told the Daily Mail.

However, some men may have a more complex job and have to think laterally. In such cases, they would also require more sleep than the average male, Mr Horne explained.

The cortex is responsible for functions such as memory and language. When a person is asleep, this part of the brain goes into "recovery mode" and disengages.

If it is used frequently during the day, it will need longer to recover at night-time, Mr Horne noted.

Men are generally thought to use the left side of their brain while women often use both, although there are exceptions to the rule.