Sleeping too much may be bad for brain: Study
Toronto, Oct. 10: Sleeping too much can harm your brain function, according to a study which shows that those who sleep less or more than seven to eight hours a night have worse cognitive performance.
Researchers from Western University in Canada said that for the world's largest sleep study, launched in June last year, over 40,000 people from around the world participated in the online scientific investigation.
The study, published in the journal Sleep, included an in- depth questionnaire and a series of cognitive performance activities.
“We really wanted to capture the sleeping habits of people around the entire globe. Obviously, there have been many smaller sleep studies of people in laboratories but we wanted to find out what sleep is like in the real world,” said Adrian Owen, from Western University.
About half of all participants reported typically sleeping less than 6.3 hours per night — an hour less than the study's recommended amount.
One startling revelation was that most participants who slept four hours or less performed as if they were almost nine years older.
Another surprising discovery was that sleep affected all adults equally. The amount of sleep associated with highly functional cognitive behaviour was the same for everyone ( 7 to 8 hours), regardless of age.
“We found that the optimum amount of sleep to keep your brain at its best is 7 to 8 hours and that corresponds to what the doctors will tell you need to keep your body in tiptop shape, as well," said Conor Wild, a research associate at Western University.