New research published in the journal Neurology® by the American Academy of Neurology suggests a potential link between disrupted sleep in middle age and future memory and thinking problems.
This study, conducted by Dr. Yue Leng of the University of California, San Francisco, emphasizes that while it doesn’t prove disrupted sleep causes cognitive decline, there is a noticeable association.
The study tracked 526 people with an average age of 40 for 11 years, focusing on their sleep patterns and cognitive health.
Participants’ sleep was monitored using wrist activity trackers for three consecutive days on two separate occasions, about a year apart.
On average, participants slept for six hours a night and also provided details about their sleep quality and duration in sleep diaries and surveys.
Interestingly, 46% of the participants reported poor sleep quality, with a sleep fragmentation average of 19%.
Sleep fragmentation refers to repetitive short interruptions during sleep, measured by the time spent moving or not moving for brief periods. Participants were then categorized into three groups based on their sleep fragmentation scores.
The findings were revealing. Among the group with the most disrupted sleep, 44 individuals showed poor cognitive performance a decade later. This was in contrast to only 10 people with the least disrupted sleep.
After accounting for factors like age, gender, race, and education, those with the most disrupted sleep were found to be more than twice as likely to have poorer cognitive function compared to those with the least disrupted sleep.
However, those in the middle group showed no significant difference in cognitive performance compared to the least disrupted group.
It’s important to note that the study found no correlation between the amount of sleep and cognitive function in middle age. Additionally, the self-reported quality of sleep was not linked to cognitive performance.
While these findings are significant, the study had limitations, including a small sample size that restricted a thorough examination of potential racial or gender differences in the results.
Despite these limitations, Dr. Leng believes that more research is needed to understand the relationship between sleep disturbances and cognition at various life stages and to identify if there are critical periods when sleep is more closely related to cognitive health.
This study, funded by the National Institute on Aging and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, suggests that future research could offer new avenues for Alzheimer’s disease prevention, especially in identifying and managing sleep disturbances in earlier life stages.
It underscores the importance of good sleep quality in middle age as a potential factor in maintaining cognitive health later in life.
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The research findings can be found in Neurology.
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