Sleep & Brain Health
Scientists were interested in the impacts of sleep on brain health. They evaluated sleep and MRI data for 39,771 middle-aged participants, without dementia or stroke, in the UK Biobank.
Short and long sleep durations are associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality, heart disease, and stroke. In the brain, white matter hyperintensities (WMH) and fractional anisotropy (FA) are indicators of poor brain health that precede the occurrence of dementia and stroke by many years. WMH are brain lesions indicating brain aging and FA measures the uniformity of water diffusion along brain cells.
The data showed that:
72.7% of the participants got optimal sleep, described as 7 to 9 hours per night,
21.3% of participants that got short sleep, which was less than 7 hours per night, and
6% got long sleep, amounting to more than 9 hours per night.
Compared with optimal sleep participants, short sleep participants had a higher risk of 1) the presence of WMH; 2) larger WMH volume; and 3) worse FA profiles.
Compared with optimal sleep participants, long sleep participants had a higher risk of 1) larger WMH volume and 2) worse FA profiles.
This research indicates that getting 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night is likely to help protect your brain from stroke or dementia.
Takeaway: A healthy amount of sleep, between 7 and 9 hours per night, is associated with better cardiovascular and brain health. Strive to get optimal sleep.
Well-being is a journey, not a quick fix.
Sources
Santiago Clocchiatti-Tuozzo, et al., Suboptimal Sleep Duration is Associated with Poorer Neuroimaging Brain Health Profiles in Middle-Aged Individuals without Stroke or Dementia, Vol. 13 Iss. 1 Journal of the American Heart Association, Jan. 2, 2024, Suboptimal Sleep Duration Is Associated With Poorer Neuroimaging Brain Health Profiles in Middle‐Aged Individuals Without Stroke or Dementia | Journal of the American Heart Association (ahajournals.org).
Santiago Clocchiatti-Tuozzo, Sleep’s Role in Brain Health, Neuroscience News, Jan. 30, 2024, Sleep's Role in Brain Health - Neuroscience News.
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