A comprehensive international study led by Monash University has underscored the critical connection between good-quality sleep and cognitive function.
The research, published in JAMA Network Open, focused on 5,946 adults in the United States, investigating the relationship between sleep patterns, sleep disorders such as sleep apnea, and cognitive function.
The study found that, among adults aged 58–89 who hadn’t experienced stroke or dementia, improved sleep quality and the absence of sleep apnea were associated with better cognitive performance over five years.
The Study’s Findings
The study’s findings debunked the idea that specific sleep components, like the duration of light sleep, deep sleep, or REM sleep, were closely tied to cognitive function.
Instead, it emphasized the importance of overall sleep quality and the absence of sleep apnea in preserving cognitive abilities.
Lead author Associate Professor Matthew Pase, from Monash University’s Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, presented these crucial findings at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference.
The research is particularly significant because it delves into the cognitive impact of even mild obstructive sleep apnea in individuals who didn’t report sleep-related complaints.
According to Associate Professor Pase, the discovery highlights the need to explore interventions to enhance sleep quality for the preservation of cognitive function.
Notably, over half of the participants in the study showed evidence of mild obstructive sleep apnea, indicating its potential impact on cognitive performance.
Sleep, Cognition, and Dementia Risk
The study revealed that participants with mild to severe sleep apnea displayed poorer cognitive function, encompassing thinking and memory performance.
This observation is significant because prior research often relied on diagnosed sleep apnea cases, whereas this study examines a broader population.
Associate Professor Pase emphasized the critical role that various aspects of sleep play in cognitive health, including sleep quality and the presence of sleep apnea.
He highlighted the study’s strength, as it employed objective overnight sleep studies in a substantial number of participants, a departure from the reliance on subjective sleep reports or rest-activity patterns in previous research.
The Sleep and Dementia Consortium
This study represents the inaugural research from the Sleep and Dementia Consortium, established to explore connections between dementia risk and markers of accelerated brain aging and injury, as measured by brain imaging and cognitive assessments.
The consortium is jointly led by Associate Professor Pase and Associate Professor Jayandra Himali from the University of Texas in San Antonio.
The research team harnessed high-quality data from five population-based cohorts in the United States. These cohorts featured consistent, overnight, home-based sleep studies and neuropsychological evaluations spanning five years.
The next phase of research will involve an exploration of the specific aspects of sleep health most closely linked to dementia risk.
This will contribute to a deeper understanding of the intricate relationship between sleep, cognitive function, and dementia, potentially paving the way for strategies to mitigate cognitive decline through improved sleep quality.
If you care about sleep quality, please read studies about how to sleep to prevent Alzheimer’s disease, and this herb could help you sleep well at night.
For more information about brain health, please see recent studies about high blood pressure drug that could treat dementia, and results showing this diet could protect against memory loss and dementia.
The research findings can be found in JAMA Network Open.
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