A research team based at University College London has published the results of a study (1) which show an association between the time spent sleeping and mental aging.
The project involved 1,459 women and 3,972 men who were aged 45–69 at the beginning of the investigation. The time spent sleeping ( in hours ) during an average week night was assessed once between 1997 and 1999, and then again between 2002 and 2004. Cognitive function was measured using 6 different tests.
It was shown that if the time spent sleeping had either decreased from 6-8 hours or increased from this interval, there was an association with lower scores on most of the cognitive tests. The magnitude of these effects was equivalent to a 4-7 year increase in age.
According to the lead author, “The main result to come out of our study was that adverse changes in sleep duration appear to be associated with poorer cognitive function in later-middle age.”
The take home message is that we should try to get around 7 hours of sleep every night. It should be pointed out that an association does not prove cause and effect but the findings of this study certainly merit further investigation.
1. Ferrie, J, E., Shipley, M. J., Akbaraly, T. N., Marmot, M.G., Kivimäki, M. & Singh-Manoux, A. ( 2011 ) Change in Sleep Duration and Cognitive Function: Findings from the Whitehall II Study. SLEEP: 34 (5): 565-573.
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