Recent research published in Neurology suggests that individuals in their 30s and 40s who experience more disrupted sleep may be more likely to encounter memory and thinking issues in the following decade.
It’s important to note that this study doesn’t establish a direct cause-and-effect relationship between sleep quality and cognitive decline; rather, it highlights a significant association between the two.
Yue Leng, Ph.D., from the University of California, San Francisco, who led the study, emphasizes the importance of understanding the connection between sleep and cognitive functions early in life.
This understanding is crucial, especially considering the early brain changes associated with Alzheimer’s disease, which can begin decades before any symptoms appear.
Leng’s research suggests that the quality of sleep, rather than its quantity, plays a more vital role in maintaining cognitive health during middle age.
The study followed 526 individuals with an average age of 40 over 11 years. Researchers assessed participants’ sleep duration and quality using wrist activity monitors and sleep diaries. Participants, on average, slept for six hours per night.
Sleep quality was rated on a scale where higher scores indicated poorer sleep, and nearly half of the participants reported poor sleep quality.
Additionally, the study focused on sleep fragmentation, a measure of repetitive short interruptions in sleep.
On average, participants exhibited a sleep fragmentation of 19%. The participants were then categorized into three groups based on their sleep fragmentation scores.
The findings revealed a noticeable pattern: among the group with the most disrupted sleep, 44 individuals showed poor cognitive performance after 10 years, compared to only 10 in the group with the least disrupted sleep.
Even after adjusting for factors like age, gender, race, and education, those with the most disrupted sleep were more than twice as likely to experience cognitive decline compared to those with the least disrupted sleep.
Interestingly, the study found no significant difference in cognitive performance among those in the middle group compared to the least disrupted group.
Leng points out the need for further research to explore the relationship between sleep disturbances and cognitive functions at different life stages.
Identifying specific periods in life when sleep is more closely linked to cognitive health could open new doors for Alzheimer’s disease prevention strategies in later life.
It’s noteworthy that neither the total sleep duration nor participants’ subjective assessments of their sleep quality were linked to midlife cognitive functions.
However, the study faced limitations due to its small sample size, which restricted a thorough investigation of potential differences in race or gender.
If you care about Alzheimer’s, please read studies about the likely cause of Alzheimer’s disease , and new non-drug treatment that could help prevent Alzheimer’s.
For more information about brain health, please see recent studies about diet that may help prevent Alzheimer’s, and results showing some dementia cases could be prevented by changing these 12 things.
The research findings can be found in Neurology.
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