History is full of high achievers who claimed to need only a few hours sleep a night - from Leonardo da Vinci to Margaret Thatcher to Elon Musk. Now, research into so-called “elite sleepers” - who fall asleep late and wake up early, yet feel perfectly refreshed - is changing the way we sleep, and offering clues for ways to treat diseases such as dementia.

This week, neurologists at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), reported on 10 years of research sequencing the genomes of “familial natural short sleepers”, who represent around 3 per cent of the population. They found they shared genetic mutations which make it possible to sleep less without suffering any negative health consequences.

The Telegraph London