<P> Gardner's sleep recovery was observed by sleep researchers who noted changes in sleep structure during post-deprivation recovery . After completing his record, Gardner slept for 14 hours and 40 minutes, awoke naturally around 8: 40 p.m., and stayed awake until about 7: 30 p.m. the next day, when he slept an additional ten and a half hours . Gardner appeared to have fully recovered from his loss of sleep, with follow up sleep recordings taken one, six, and ten weeks after the fact showing no significant differences . No long term psychological or physical effects have been observed . </P> <P> According to news reports, Gardner's record has been broken a number of times . Some of these cases are described below for comparison . Gardner's case still stands out, however, because it is so extensively documented . It is difficult to determine the accuracy of a sleep deprivation period unless the participant is carefully observed to detect short microsleeps, which the participant might not even notice . Also, records for voluntary sleep deprivation are no longer kept by Guinness World Records for fear that participants will suffer ill effects . </P> <P> Some sources report that Gardner's record was broken a month later by Toimi Soini, in Hamina, Finland, who stayed awake for 111⁄2 days, or 276 hours from February 5 - 15, 1964 and the Guinness World Records record is 449 hours by Maureen Weston, of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire in April, 1977 in a rocking - chair marathon . Because of the policy against maintaining this record, recent editions of Guinness do not provide any information about sleep deprivation . </P> <P> More recently, Tony Wright on May 25, 2007 was reported to have exceeded Randy Gardner's feat in the apparent belief that Gardner's record had not been beaten . He used 24 - hour video for documentation . </P>

What is the longest amount of time a person has slept