Merely believing that you experienced a highly restful night of sleep actually improves your cognitive function, regardless of how terribly you actually slept.

A closer look

Merely believing that you experienced a highly restful night of sleep actually improves your cognitive function, regardless of how terribly you actually slept. Researchers at Colorado College demonstrated that subjects who were lied to and told they had above-average restorative sleep performed significantly better on math and memory tests. Your brain is so incredibly gullible that it will literally manifest energy and focus just because an authority figure wearing a lab coat told it a reassuring bedtime story. So instead of drinking a fourth cup of coffee and hyperventilating over your insomnia, you could theoretically just gaslight yourself into functioning properly and pretending those dark circles are fashion statements