A new research study has shown that extreme
changes in sleep duration may affect memory
function. This research carried out by Brigham and
Women's Hospital (BWH) suggests that sleeping too
much or too little, may affect brain health later in life.
The team, led by Elizabeth Devore, an instructor in
medicine at the hospital found that women who slept
for less than five hours per day, or more than nine
hours per day, had worse memory, equivalent to
nearly two additional years of age, than those
sleeping seven hours per day.
They also found that women whose sleep duration
changed by greater than two hours per day over
time, had worse memory than women with no
change in sleep duration.
In a statement, Elizabeth noted that good sleeping
habits was an important factor to be considered in
preserving memory into later life.
"Our findings suggests that getting an 'average'
amount of sleep, seven hours per day, may help
maintain memory and that clinical interventions
based on sleep therapy should be examined for the
prevention of cognitive impairment"
For the study, researchers collected data from
more than 15200 participants of the Nurses Health
Study.
Source: http://edscienceblog..com/