He added, though, that there are ways for students sleeping as few as five hours a day to best use the little sleep they get.

"Take a siesta during the day," he said. "You might get more mileage out of your sleep."

Audience members had mixed reactions to the panel discussion.

Harpaul A. Kohla '02 said he appreciated getting sleep advice from actual experts in the field.

"It's really hard to find people who know a lot about sleep," Kohla said.

Kohla added, though, that the panel should have put more focus on sleep issues specifically relating to college students.

"They may have put too much focus on serious sleep disorders," he said.

Josh B. Rutenberg, a student at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, said the panel was informative but he doubts the speakers' message will have much effect on college students' sleep patterns.