New Delhi, June 17 -- In 1964, 17-year-old Randy Gardner set out to challenge the limits of human endurance by staying awake for 11 days. What began as a science fair project quickly spiralled into a widely publicised experiment on human endurance and the dangers of sleep deprivation.

For the experiment, Gardner fought off sleep, and his two friends, Bruce McAllister and Joe Marciano Jr, monitored him around the clock, administering a set of cognitive and physical tests every six hours.

By day three, the effects of extreme wakefulness had started to show: trouble focusing, memory lapses, and mood swings. "About the fourth or fifth day, I was like - are you kidding me, this is hard," Gardner recalled in a Guinness World Records video pos...