Cognitive Function and Sleep Patterns Linked by Study
A recent publication in BMJ Public Health drew an interesting link between sleep patterns and cognitive performance. Researchers from Imperial College London found that older adults who are ‘night owls’ tend to score higher cognitively than those who prefer morning activities. This revelation may give insights on how our internal biological clocks could affect the brain.
Exploring the Connection
“Our interest in this subject was really a broader concern about behavioral factors such as sleep that can influence brain health,” shared study authors Raha West, NIHR Doctoral Research Fellow, and Daqing Ma, Professor of Anesthesia. “In view of an aging population and increasing prevalence of cognitive decline, understanding the relationship between sleep patterns and cognitive function may help develop better interventions and health guidelines for maintaining cognitive health among older persons.”
Data from the UK Biobank
This study used data from participants aged over 40 years registered in The UK Biobank which is a large-scale prospective cohort investigation. Specifically, it included 26,820 people who completed all necessary questionnaires and cognitive assessments.
Understanding Sleep Patterns
Participants provided self-report questionnaire information concerning their sleep habits including sleep duration, chronotype, and sleep quality. Sleep duration was divided into short (<7 hours), normal (7-9 hours), or long (>9 hours). Chronotypes were defined by three options: morning person; intermediate type; evening person. Frequency of experiencing insomnia (in sleeplessness) determined the quality of subjects’ night slumber.
Cognitive Performance Testing
Cognitive performance tests were utilized to assess aspects of cognition such as reasoning ability memory capacity reaction time etcetera for evaluating participants’ overall intellectual capabilities. Fluid Intelligence Pairs Matching Reaction Time Prospective Memory are examples of these tests among others.
Key Findings
Chronotype and Cognitive Performance
One of the key discoveries was that there was a significant association between chronotype and cognitive performance. Compared to morning types, participants who claimed to be ‘night owls’ had higher scores on cognitive tests. Intermediate type also produced better cognitive performance than morning type.
Sleep Duration and Cognitive Health
The researchers discovered that normal sleep duration (7-9 hours) is associated with slightly higher cognitive scores. However, longer sleep duration (greater than 9 hours) is correlated with markedly reduced cognitive scores. This confirms earlier studies suggesting a U-shaped relationship between sleep duration and cognition such that both short and long duration sleep are related to worse cognitive health.
Expert Opinions
Jessica Chelekis, a Brunel University London lecturer, said: “There is no scientific basis for the cultural belief that those who rise early are more productive than night owls. In particular, night owls should not be forced into conformity with a stereotype favouring ‘early to bed and early to rise’.”
Jacqui Hanley from Alzheimer’s Research UK said: “Since we do not have a detailed picture of what is happening in the brain, we cannot say if being a morning or evening person influences memory and thinking or if changes in cognition affect sleeping patterns.”
Future Research Directions
It is important to note that although this study offers valuable insights, it has some limitations such as relying on self-reported information and having cross-sectional design. It would be better to involve larger samples of populations with different backgrounds for future studies and include objective measures of sleep. Longitudinal designs could help in understanding the direction of causality between sleep patterns and cognitive performance.
Conclusion
The authors emphasize the importance of getting seven to nine hours of quality sleep per night in order to avoid cognitive deficits. For maximum impact on their cognitive abilities, people must realize their natural sleeping habits whether they are morning larks or evening types.
The article titled “UK Biobank cross-sectional study on health status including sleep duration, chronotype” was published July 10th, 2024.
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