Taking an afternoon nap can help you stop feeling dozy
40 winks link to improved mental agility
CATNAPPING in the afternoon could improve mental agility, a study has claimed.
The online journal General Psychiatry reported daytime sleeping was associated with better locational awareness, verbal fluency and working memory.
Researchers examined the sleep patterns of 2,214 healthy people aged 60 in several cities in China.
Of those who took part in the study, 1,534 took a regular afternoon nap of between five minutes and two hours, while 680 did not.
All had a dementia screening test which found “significant” differences in locational awareness, verbal fluency and memory – with scores higher among the napping group.
The study said: “In addition to reducing sleepiness, midday naps offer a variety of benefits such as memory consolidation, preparation for subsequent learning, executive functioning enhancement and a boost to emotional stability, but these effects were not observed in all cases.”
Motty Varghese of sleeptherapy.ie said the research supports previous studies that investigated the benefits of 40 winks.
He added: “Naps are proven to improve cognitive function, mood and subjective levels of sleepiness and fatigue particularly in the elderly.
“Intentional and habitual nappers seem to benefit more than unintentional nappers.
“Unintentional napping may be a result of an underlying sleep problem which may be causing poor sleep quality or reduced sleep quantity.
“Sleep in general becomes less restorative as one advances in age but napping and adhering to certain nap related rules would be beneficial.” minutes is the optimum length for catching an afternoon nap
Naps are proven to improve cognitive function MOTTY VARGHESE OF SLEEPTHERAPY.IE