Researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine have found that people who find a middle ground between sleeping too much and too little can slow down their cognitive decline. They found that people who slept for a moderate amount of time experienced less mental decline than those who had little or too much sleep. These results remained constant when they took the signs of early Alzheimer’s disease into account as both Alzheimer’s and poor quality sleep lead to cognitive decline.
How researchers conducted the study
The researchers gathered 100 older adults at an average age of 75 and took a sample of their cerebrospinal fluid to examine the levels of Alzheimer’s proteins. They asked the volunteers to sleep with a monitor on their foreheads for 4-6 nights to monitor their EEG. The researchers then measured their brain activity when they slept for about four and a half years. Many of the participants did not have cognitive impairments.
The groups that slept more than six and a half or less than four and a half hours each night experienced more significant cognitive decline.
According to an associate professor of neurology at Washington University Sleep Medicine Center, Dr. Brendan Lucey, it was not easy determining the relationship between the stages of Alzheimer’s and sleep. However, finding out is essential to developing treatments.
Dr. Lucey adds that the results show a sweet spot for sleep that helped maintain cognitive ability. They linked too much and too little sleep with an increased decline in cognitive performance. The researchers speculated that this was due to poor quality or insufficient sleep.
Sleeping too much can often be a sign of poor quality sleep. For instance, people with sleep apnea may sleep for long but have poor rest due to breathing difficulties.
Recommending sleep might improve cognitive performance
Dr. Lucey points out that they need more information on the topic. For instance, they need to determine if improving sleep patterns could stop cognitive decline.
A professor at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, Dr. Beau Ances, notes that they ask many patients about their sleep quality. A majority of them said that they sleep poorly. When they change their sleeping patterns, they experience changes in cognitive performance. For this reason, Dr. Ances suggest that doctors should ask their patients about how they sleep if they companion about their cognitive performance.
