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Sleep pattern linked to better ideas, focus and planning.
Sleep pattern linked to better ideas, focus and planning.
For a boost to your attention and creativity, keep your sleep regular, research suggests.
Regular sleep patterns are linked to higher focus, better ideas and stronger forward planning.
People who skimp on sleep, then ‘catch-up’ with more sleep later suffer cognitive problems.
The study was carried out on students studying interior design.
Dr Michael Scullin, a study author, explained:
“When completing term projects, students restrict sleep, then rebound on sleep, then repeat.
Major projects which call for numerous tasks and deadlines — more so than for tests — seem to contribute to sleep variability.”
Dr Scullin explained that the detrimental effects of irregular sleep were clear in their cognition:
“The more variability they showed in their night-to-night sleep, the worse their cognition declined across the week.
[…]Most students think they’re getting about four more hours of sleep each week than they actually are.”
Staying up late to complete projects is ingrained in the culture of interior design, as it is in other industries.
Dr Elise King, the study’s first author, said:
“Since the general public still doesn’t understand the profession of interior design, and mistakenly thinks we’re the same as decorators, there is a sense that you want to work harder and prove them wrong.
But recently, we’ve seen the consequences of that type of thinking: anxiety, depression and other mental health issues — and also the dangers of driving while sleep deprived.”
The study found students who kept more regular hours and habits had better ideas, focus and forward planning.
The pressures these students are under mirror the pressures in many different industries.
Dr King said:
“Projects are often lengthy, with final due dates looming weeks or months in the future.
The stress of juggling several projects, each with multiple deadlines, is likely to contribute to students’ tendency to cycle between several days of poor sleep leading up to a project due date, followed by a catch-up day with 10 or more sleep hours.”
The study was published in the Journal of Interior Design (King et al., 2017).
Almost one-in-ten regularly take this medication that is repeatedly linked to increased dementia risk.
Almost one-in-ten regularly take this medication that is repeatedly linked to increased dementia risk.
Another study has found a link between taking sleeping medication and increased dementia risk.
Taking sleep medication was linked to a 79 percent increased risk of dementia among white people.
The link was not seen in Black people, however, and Dr Yue Leng, the study’s first author, is not sure of the reason:
“Differences may be attributed to socio-economic status.
Black participants who have access to sleep medications might be a select group with high socio-economic status and, thus, greater cognitive reserve, making them less susceptible to dementia.
It’s also possible that some sleep medications were associated with a higher risk of dementia than others.”
The study included around 3,000 older people, average age 74, almost half of whom were Black.
The results showed that white people were three times as likely to take sleep medication as Black people.
White people were twice as likely to use benzodiazepines, like Halcion, Dalmane and Restoril and 7 times as likely to use “Z-drugs,” such as Ambien.
It may be that the types of drugs that white people take puts them at higher risk of dementia.
For sleep problems, other options than medication should be considered, said Dr Leng:
“The first step is to determine what kind of sleep issues patients are dealing with.
A sleep test may be required if sleep apnea is a possibility.
If insomnia is diagnosed, cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-i) is the first-line treatment.
If medication is to be used, melatonin might be a safer option, but we need more evidence to understand its long-term impact on health.”
The most common signs of sleep apnea, which affects 30 percent of older people, include:
Poor sleep is one of the common symptoms of dementia, so it may be that taking more sleep medications is a result rather than a cause of dementia.
However, other studies have controlled for this factor and still found a link between anti-anxiety and sleep medication and early death.
These find a dose-response effect: the more of the drugs people took, the higher their risk of death.
Many other studies have found a link between dementia and sleep.
People who sleep for too little or too long are at a higher risk of cognitive decline and dementia.
Indeed, people who sleep more than 9 hours a night have double the risk of developing dementia, one study found.
However, those who sleep for between 5.5 and 7.5 hours per night do not see declines in their cognitive health, even when suffering the early effects of Alzheimer’s disease.
Those sleeping longer also have lower brain volumes.
Also, getting less REM sleep — the phase in which we dream — is linked to dementia.
→ Read on: Dementia: 9 Warning Signs Everyone Should Know
The study was published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease (Leng et al., 2023).
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Struggling to get a good night's sleep?
With 30 percent of adults reporting short-term sleep issues, you’re not alone.
In surveys of what would improve people’s lives, a good night's sleep comes near the top of the list.
Poor sleep results in worse cognitive performance, including degraded memory, attention, performance and alertness.
So, here are 11 proven tips that will transform your sleep and leave you feeling refreshed and rejuvenated.
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