The importance of sleeping on time has been explained since primary school ages. Sleep appears as an art of rest that some people exaggerate and some people find difficult to achieve. Sleeping less or sleeping too much can negatively affect human health both mentally and physically.
Good sleep helps our body repair itself and function as it should. It also enables us to perform better mental activities and reduces the risk of disease. However, just like sleeping less, sleeping too much can also cause some problems. Researchers from the Washington University School of Medicine, in their article published, stated that sleeping too much may be linked to cognitive problems and diseases.
“Weekend getaways don’t hurt”
The researchers studied 100 elderly people in their 70s by following them for 4-5 years. Of these 100 people, 88 did not show any signs of dementia. It was determined that 12 people were in the cognitive deterioration stage before dementia. During the study, participants were asked to complete some cognitive and neuropsychological tests. Scores from these tests were combined into a single score system called the Preclinical Alzheimer’s Cognitive Compound (PACC) score. Accordingly, the higher the score, the better the cognitive status over time.
A single-electrode encephalography (EEG) device was attached to the foreheads of the participants and their sleep was measured between 4 and 6 nights. This has been repeated at certain intervals over the years. As a result of all these studies, it was determined that in addition to poor quality sleep, sleeping less than 4.5 hours and more than 6.5 hours a night causes cognitive decline over time.
In addition, it was determined that the effect of sleep duration on cognitive function was similar to the effect of age progression in cognitive decline. The only good news in the study came to the weekend sleepers. Weekend getaways are not so cognitively damaging, the researchers said, although the usual hours of sleep were set to be no less than 4.5 hours and no more than 6.5 hours.
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